The death toll for the wildfires burning in northern California’s Camp Fire rose to 42 people Monday night — making it the deadliest wildfire ever in the state, officials said.
Authorities announced that 13 more bodies were found during searches on Monday. The death toll is expected to continue to rise.
The dead were found in burned-out cars, in the smoldering ruins of their homes, or next to their vehicles, apparently overcome by smoke and flames before they could jump in behind the wheel and escape. In some cases, there were only charred fragments of bone, so small that coroner’s investigators used a wire basket to sift and sort them.
The news comes after President Trump approved a “major disaster declaration” in the Golden State early Monday evening. – READ MORE