Jacob Saylors, 11, crosses the burnt remains of his home in Paradise, California on November 18, 2018. The family lost a home in the same place after a fire 10 years ago.(Photo: JOSH EDELSON, AFP / Getty Images)

PARADISE, Calif. – The search for the remains of victims of the devastating wildfires in northern California has taken on a new urgency as rain could complicate these efforts while providing relief to firefighters on the front line.

Nearly 400 people gathered Sunday to search the ashes and rubble where the houses were before the flames appeared through the city of Paradise and the surrounding communities at the foot of the Sierra, killing at least 77 people in the area. Most deadly fire in the United States for a century.

Wearing white suits, helmets and masks, teams of volunteers and search and rescue teams searched smoky debris for bone fragments before the rain could wash them or transform an ash dries into a thick paste. The so-called campfire destroyed more than 10,500 homes.

A team of 10 volunteers, accompanied by a dead dog, went from house to house in the charred landscape. They scanned the rubble by five-minute sweeps, using poles to move debris and focusing on vehicles, bathtubs and what was left of mattresses.

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When no remains were found, they sprayed a big orange "0" near the house and left.

Robert Panak, a volunteer in a team from Napa County, said he had tried to visualize the house before it burned and wondering where people could have been hiding. His morning searches were futile, but he was not deterred.

"I'm just thinking of the positives, bringing relief to families, closing down," said Panak.

Sheriff Kory Honea said that it was in the "realm of possibilities" that officials never know the exact number of deaths resulting from the fire. He also asked if the search for remains could be completed in the middle of the week when the rain is announced.

"Although I wish we could get through all this before the rains, I do not know if that is possible," Honea said.

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There remain about 1,000 names on a missing list more than a week after the start of the fire in Butte County, about 225 km north of San Francisco, authorities said.

The authorities do not believe that all the people on the list are missing and the alignment was lowered by 300 on Sunday as more and more people were located or contacted to say they were not missing.

Sunday afternoon, more than 50 people gathered in front of a memorial dedicated to the victims of the first Christian church in Chico, where a banner on the altar indicated: "We will be reborn from our ashes".

Pastor Jesse Kearns recited a prayer for the first firefighters, rescuers and search teams: "We are asking for continued strength as they get tired right now."

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Paul Stavish, who retired three months ago after a job in computer science in Silicon Valley and moved to paradise, placed a battery – powered votive candle on the altar while he was there. a woman was playing the piano and singing "Amazing Grace".

Stavish, his wife and three dogs managed to escape the fire, but the house disappeared. He said that he thought of the dead and cried the warm and welded community.

"It's not just a few houses burning," he said. "The whole city is gone."

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Hundreds of research and recovery personnel are participating in the effort, traveling to homes where they have received information indicating that someone might have died.

But they are also conducting a more comprehensive search of the areas, "door to door" and "car to car," said Joe Moses, commander of the Monterey County Sheriff's Office, who helps oversee search and rescue efforts. .

According to Moses, the search area is huge and many structures need to be checked.

The fire has also burned many ground sites, creating a unique landscape for many search and rescue personnel, he said.

"We are looking for very small parts here, so we have to be very diligent and methodical in the way we do your research," he said on Friday.

The death toll rose only one Sunday and firefighters were able to expand containment to 65% of the burning area by 234 square miles (606 square kilometers).

Midweek rain was forecast in the Paradise area. The National Meteorological Service said the area could receive sustained winds of 32 km / h and gusts of 40 km / h (40 km / h), which could make it difficult for crews to continue to make progress against the area. ;fire.

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Christopher Weber and Brian Melley of The Associated Press in Los Angeles also contributed.

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