The search for people unaccounted for after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in at least a century is winding down in Northern California, with just 11 names left on a fluctuating list that once approached 1,300 and prompted fears that hundreds had died in the flames.
The declining number released late Monday came as a relief in the Paradise area as it reels from the wildfire that killed at least 85 people and destroyed nearly 14,000 homes.
Authorities now say they have located more than 3,100 people who had been reported as unreachable at some point during the catastrophe.
“I think that’s a pretty remarkable number at this point,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said.
He also has revised the death toll down to 85 from 88, saying medical examiners determined several bags of human remains were duplicates.
Phil John, chairman of the region’s wildfire preparedness organization who helped draft the evacuation plan for Paradise, said the lower-than-expected death toll is a “miracle.”
In a push for order, the organization had called for staggered exits and a warning system that required residents to sign up for alerts.
Still, there were traffic jams when the fire swept through town, but John believes the death toll would have been much higher without the plan.
Councilman Mike Zuccolillo said he was surprised that the death toll was not higher.
He said most residents received no official notification and got away safely because of warnings from neighbors and family. Now, the city has a long way to go to recover and faces significant financial hurdles in rebuilding, he said.
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