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PARADISE, Calif. (Reuters) – Crews faced two giant fires Sunday on the far side of California, including a fire in the north of the country, one of the deadliest and most destructive ever known. l & # 39; history.
The campfire is burning near Big Bend, California, United States, November 10, 2018. Photo taken November 10, 2018. REUTERS / Stephen Lam
At least 23 people were killed by the camp fire that erupted Thursday northeast of Sacramento and destroyed much of the mountain town of Paradise. More than 100 people went missing. Hundreds of miles to the south, at least two people died in the Woolsey fire, threatening the rich seaside community of Malibu, near Los Angeles.
The camp fire destroyed more than 6,700 homes and businesses in Paradise, more structures than any other forest fire recorded in California, and the death toll, which could rise, also makes it worse. One of the deadliest.
Only Griffith Park fires in 1933 and Tunnel fires in 1991 caused even more casualties.
Several bodies discovered earlier this week were found in or near burned cars, police said. The flames fell on paradise so quickly that many people were forced to abandon their vehicles and save their lives by the only road that runs through the mountain town.
More than 110 people reportedly went missing in the fire-ravaged area, a spokeswoman for the Butte County Sheriff's Office said, refusing to comment.
On Sunday, the campfire had darkened more than 44,000 hectares on the edge of the Plumas National Forest. The crews had cut the containment lines about 25% of the fire.
Winds of up to 64 km / h (40 miles to the hour) had to blow Sunday on the region.
Gusts of up to 100 km / h and 113 km / h, the so-called "devil wind" of Santa Ana, were expected in the Los Angeles area where crews are fighting the Woolsey fire.
"The situation is getting worse," said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist, at the Meteorological Prediction Center at the National Weather Service in College Park, Maryland. "This is just bad news."
The air masses blowing into the western US deserts, including the Death Valley, to the coast are expected to bring strong, sustained winds at least until Tuesday, he said.
The Woolsey fire has doubled from Friday night to Sunday, threatening thousands of homes after triggering mandatory evacuation orders for a quarter of a million people in the upscale seaside town as well as in other county communities from Los Angeles and Ventura.
The fire destroyed at least 177 homes and other structures, whose full count is still in progress, and burned more than 100,000 hectares until Saturday night, officials said.
"Our firefighters have had to deal with the extreme, harsh fire conditions they would never have seen in their lives," said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby.
Governor Jerry Brown has asked US President Donald Trump to declare a major disaster to strengthen emergency response and help residents recover.
"We are putting everything we have in the fight against these fires and this demand guarantees front-line communities additional support from the federal government," says Brown's letter.
Trump, during a trip to France, said in a Twitter publication early Sunday: "With proper forest management, we can stop the devastation that is constantly occurring in California. Become smart! "
The Republican president has already blamed California officials for fires and threatened to suspend funds, saying the state should do more to eliminate rotten trees and other debris that fuel the flames.
State officials blamed climate change and said that many of the burning areas were on federally managed land.
Report of Stephen Lam in Paradise; Alex Dobuzinskis and Dan Whitcomb in Los Angeles, Rich McKay in Atlanta, Barbara Goldberg in New York and David Shepardson in Washington; Edited by Alexandra Hudson and Lisa Shumaker
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