CHICO — The Camp Fire continued to increase its morbid distance in the history books from previously lethal wildfires in the state, as the death toll rose to 71, and the number of people still considered missing surpassed 1,000 despite tireless efforts to remove hundreds of people from massive missing-persons rolls. The number of people who perished in the fire already has more than doubled the number from the second-deadliest wildfire in California history — the 1933 Griffith Park fire in Los Angeles — and could soon triple the 25 people who died in the Oakland Hills firestorm in 1991. Of the eight additional victims revealed Friday, seven were found in Paradise inside structures, while one was found inside a structure in Magalia. Authorities also have released the names of two more fire victims — bringing the total number of officially identified victims to five — Paula Dodge, 70, and Randall Dodge, 68, both Paradise residents. The number of names on the missing person’s list for Northern California’s Camp fire grew to 1,011 Friday night, nearly doubling the number reported Thursday, though fire officials warned that the list may include duplicate names. Sheriff Kory Honea said the list of unaccounted individuals continues to be culled from calls, emails and other data mined from callers in the opening hours of the fire, and may contain duplicate entries as they prioritize public notification over infallibility. “It’s easy for them to lose contact with each other,” Honea said, referring to people scattered across the state reporting their friends and relatives missing. “That adds to the difficulty.”

Complete California wildfire coverage with latest updates and stories from the scene – Read the stories

Along the fire lines, the historically destructive blaze has burned 146,000 acres and destroyed 9,700 homes and 2,563 other structures, according to Cal Fire. On a hopeful note, the containment of the fire reached 50 percent. Meanwhile, this news organization’s review of firefighter radio transmissions indicates a possible “second start” of the Camp Fire — currently being investigated by Cal Fire — was caught on a firewatch camera near the Concow reservoir, about a half-hour after the first flames were reported about five miles northeast near Poe Dam and Pulga. To date, 47,200 people remain evacuated, and 1,164 were staying in evacuation and emergency shelters, authorities said. Related to that front, a tent city that served as a refuge for some of the most impoverished people left homeless by the Camp Fire will likely disappear by the end of the weekend, its occupants pushed to move to evacuation shelters and other living spaces for their longer-term health and safety as colder weather sets in and rain looms. “It’s best for these people to get into a shelter for the best care,” said Rob Busick, one of the volunteer organizers of the encampment that sprang up in and beside the parking lot of Walmart on Forest Avenue. “This was always meant to be a short-term solution to a long-term problem.”

Busick noted next week’s forecast of colder weather and then rain had the Walmart encampment’s organizers worried that potential flooding could endanger people staying in more than 100 tents in a field abutting the asphalt lot. “With the cold, rain, and air quality, it’s not safe for them anymore,” he said. “We want to help them comfortably transition into the next place.”

News of the impending draw-down of the tent city, which hosted as many as 500 people at its peak since the Nov. 8 inferno and grew to include a distribution center for donated clothing and a food truck, as well as for public health and relocation assistance, was met with dismay by many people still staying there. A sign erected at the encampment notifying people it was to be closed provoked “a near riot” Thursday night, said organizer Guido Barbero. Tensions also were heightened by confusion about who decided the camp should close. Friday, next to the retail giant’s parking lot, some 125 tents were scattered across a field of beaten-down autumn-gold grass. In a circle of six tents that its denizens dubbed “Wally Hood” in tribute to the property owner, about 10 refugees from the fire-ravaged hills created a supportive new community, and they did not want to leave, said Tammy Mezera, 49, formerly of Magalia. Mezera was sitting with five friends in collapsible chairs inside the circle of tents, a large plastic bin for a table, and a metal night-time cage for Nel, the friendly brindle pit bull, serving as a kitchen counter. Get breaking news alerts on wildfire and other important stories – Sign up now

“Everybody’s been through a traumatic experience,” Mezera said. “We have a bond here, just like people in war, in the foxhole.”

News that she and her small band of evacuees and others in the camp will be uprooted “is creating more psychological hardship for people,” Mezera said. The camp’s dwellers were told that on Sunday the portable toilets would be removed and meals stopped. “I’m fine with that update, because I would rather get that information out than wait too much longer to do that.”

He continued: “I want you to understand that there are a lot of people displaced and there are a lot of people who don’t know we’re looking for them.”

Honea said that while recovery efforts remain difficult, increased resources have helped “bring more order to the chaos that we’re dealing with.”

Brent Newman, chief of the California Highway Patrol’s Valley Division, said officials were “more committed than we’ve ever been,” adding that it had been a tough week, but authorities were set on providing the community “outstanding support” throughout the recovery efforts. Deja German, staying with a friend in a large tent a stone’s throw from Wally Hood, criticized the effort to relocate evacuees. “The reason that that number went up is because after they went up, [emergency officials] didn’t stop working, they continued to work into the night,” Honea said. “Trying to find answers is pretty much impossible,” said German, 38, who got a ride out of Magalia the day the fire started. A number of people staying in vehicles at the edge of the Walmart lot also were urged to leave, said Debi Crane, a retired florist evacuated with her two sisters, who turned a rented U-Haul truck into a parked living space. Spending time at the camp with others traumatized by fire and loss was “uplifting,” said Crane, 62. Many campers acknowledged the tent city was not entirely safe and reported seeing several fights and drug dealing, as well as homeless people not displaced by the fire who had starting to move in for the free food and clothing. Closure of the camp, organizer Busick said, was a collective decision by emergency officials, local government representatives, and the handful of organizers — soccer friends in Chico — who started the camp. He lauded Walmart for its compassion and patience. “Walmart has been fantastic. It will fluctuate both up and down every day,” Butte County Sheriff-Coroner Kory L. Honea said of the missing person’s list Friday night. How you can help victims of the Camp Fire in Butte County

Donated gas cards and other resources are being made available to help the campers get to official evacuation shelters and more stable living situations. Bidwell Jr. High School on North Avenue in Chico hosts a county shelter still accepting people, as others have filled. Walmart spokeswoman Tiffany Wilson said although the company was happy it could provide a refuge, “we understand that our parking lots are not a viable long-term housing solution and are working closely with the American Red Cross, the county and local organizations to best preserve the health and safety of those impacted by the Camp Fire.”

For Tina Duarte, her daughter and two granddaughters, formerly of Paradise, the camp provided a refuge from disease outbreaks such as the norovirus that hit a Chico church shelter. Her youngest granddaughter is only three weeks old, she said. The White House has not released details on which locations Trump will visit. I’m not going to lose my granddaughter,” said Duarte, 45. “We’re better off in a tent.”

But on Friday afternoon, they accepted a good Samaritan’s offer to borrow a 40-foot trailer, and they were packing up to go. Anyone seeking information about people missing in the wake of the Camp Fire or who wants to report someone missing or accounted for can view the latest list from the Butte County Sheriff’s Office at buttecounty.net/sheriffcoroner and call one of the following three hotlines: 530-538-6570, 530-538-7544, 530-538-7671. Information about evacuation shelters for people displaced by the Camp Fire can be found at the Butte County website at buttecounty.net.
The death toll in the Camp Fire rises to 71, with the statewide total at 74. The number of missing and unaccounted-for people rises to more than 1000.