At least 29 people have died in the Campfire in northern California, making it the joint-deadliest blaze in the state’s history.
The death toll rose after five bodies were found inside houses in the burned-out town of Paradise, while another was discovered in a nearby car.
But 228 people are still unaccounted for after the town was engulfed by the flames, meaning that the death toll could rise considerably.
Butte County Sheriff Cory Honea said the devastation is so complete in some neighborhoods that ‘it’s very difficult to determine whether or not there may be human remains there.
‘In some cases, the only remains we are able to recover are bones or bone fragments,’ Honea said.
At least 29 people have died in the Camp wildfire, making it the joint-deadliest in California’s history alongside the Griffith Park fire which struck Los Angeles in 1933 (pictured, bodies are located in the town of Paradise)
The death toll rose on Sunday after the remains of five people were found inside houses in Paradise, while another was found in a nearby car (pictured, body bags are loaded into a hearse in Paradise)
Butte County Sheriff Cory Honea revealed another 228 people are unaccounted for, adding that finding their remains is proving difficult, as many bodies have been reduced to little more than bone fragments
The extent of the Camp Fire is seen in this satellite image taken on November 10, as it burned through northern California
Cathy Fallon (center), who lives in Paradise, stayed behind to tend to her horses during the Camp Fire. She survived and was pictured embracing Shawna De Long (left) and April Smith who brought supplies for the horses
One of the fire’s victims was an ailing woman whose body was found in bed in a burned-out house in Concow, near Paradise. Ellen Walker, who was in her early 70s, was home alone when the fire struck on Thursday, according to Nancy Breeding, a family friend
Those living in Paradise were ordered to flee their homes as the fire closed in, but found themselves trapped on roads that were not designed to carry that weight of traffic (pictured, burned-out cars near the town)
Firefighters trying to get into Paradise to assess the extent of the devastation first had to clear the road of cars which got stuck in the flames and burned up
A car sits next to a trail of metal which was melted by the heat of the fire before solidifying again as the blaze moved away
The statewide total of deaths from wildfires is now at 31.
One of the fire’s victims was an ailing woman whose body was found in bed in a burned-out house in Concow, near Paradise.
Ellen Walker, who was in her early 70s, was home alone when the fire struck on Thursday, according to Nancy Breeding, a family friend.
The 29 deaths matched the deadliest single fire on record, a 1933 blaze in Griffith Park in Los Angeles.
Forty-four people were killed last year after flames struck northern Californian wine country, though that was in several different fires. More than 5,000 homes were destroyed.
‘This weighs heavy on all of us,’ Honea said. ‘Myself and especially those staff members who are out there doing what is important work but certainly difficult work.’
Ten search and recovery teams are working in Paradise – a town of 27,000 that was largely incinerated on Thursday – and in surrounding communities.
Authorities called in a mobile DNA lab and anthropologists to help identify victims of the most destructive wildfire in California history.
Some cars never made it off the driveway before being consumed by the flames, which have also destroyed 6,500 buildings