California fire crews notch progress as weather cools and calms; Camp Fire death toll up to 63

Fire crews wrangling with the most lethal blaze in California history are getting a welcome boost: Cooler, calmer weather that has descended on the northern part of the state.

The death toll at the Camp Fire, however, continued to climb on Thursday night, reaching 63 with the announcement of seven additional fatalities by Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea. The list of the missing ballooned to 631 people, though Honea said he believes "a lot of people don't know that we are looking for them."

The forecast shift has helped in the containment of the vicious Camp Fire, which obliterated the town of Paradise and tore through nearby communities after igniting in a rural area one week ago on Nov. 8. 

Although the winds have mercifully calmed down, that's left the air filled with smoke and haze from the fires, leading to poor air quality in north-central California.

The blaze is now 40 percent contained and covers 141,000 acres, the state's fire agency, Cal Fire, said Thursday. That's up from 30 percent on Wednesday.

Officials have tentatively identified 53 people of the 63 deceased through DNA, Honea said. The fire has destroyed nearly 12,000 homes and businesses destroyed, of which 9,700 are single-family homes.

Of the 63 fatalities, only three have been publicly identified: 73-year-old Carl Wiley, of Magalia; 48-year-old Jesus Fernandez, of Concow; and 65-year-old Ernest Foss, of Paradise. 

Of the dead, 52 were found in Paradise. The other eight all were found in Concow. Three were found in Magalia. 

Of those killed, 40 were found in homes or other buildings. Fourteen of the victims were found outside, while nine were found in vehicles. 

Some 52,000 people have been forced to flee; 1,385 are still in shelters. Officials reduced or lifted some evacuation orders and warnings Thursday afternoon.     

Thanks to the calmer winds, the weather is marginally better than it was earlier in the week during the worst of the fires. 

Dry, warm temperatures are likely to continue through early next week in northern California, the National Weather Service in Sacramento said. Breezy northeast winds are also likely over the Sierra Nevada mountains Saturday night into Sunday, which will once again elevate fire danger.

But some substantial relief could come next week: "A more significant (weather) pattern change appears likely during the latter half of next week, with the potential for widespread rainfall," the weather service in San Francisco said.

AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski cautioned that "this does not mean that the risk of high wind events has ended for the year, as a period of gusty winds may follow during the weekend right after Thanksgiving."

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Fire officials, who fear the death toll could climb as evacuees return to find bodies in the singed-out shells of their homes, have begun a somber task: More than 450 searchers, many with cadaver dogs, are sifting through debris for remains in Paradise and outlying areas.

One of those areas is Magalia, a town of about 11,000 in the Sierra Nevada foothills, where many of the missing are elderly. Three bodies were found there Thursday, two inside and one outside structures, Honea said. 

“If this town does recover, it’s going to take many, many years,” said Johnny Pohmagevich, an 18-year Magalia resident who lives near many burned homes.

Tom Driver, the office manager and elder at Magalia Community Church, said he heard the church made it through the blaze, but he did not know whether his home survived.

“I’ve been able to account for all of the congregation,” said Driver, who is staying with family in Oakland. “They’re all over the place, but they got out in pretty good time.”

Kim Bonini left after hearing someone on a bullhorn urging people to flee. The power in her home had gone out that morning, leaving her with only her car radio.

“My cell didn’t work, my house phone didn’t work, nothing. Nothing except for me crawling into my car,” Bonini said from her daughter’s home in Chico. “If I wouldn’t have heard them two blocks down, I wouldn’t have known I had to evacuate.”

In Southern California, crews continued to battle separate wildfires. The Woolsey Fire burning west of Los Angeles – which has destroyed more than 500 structures and killed at least three people – was 62 percent contained on Thursday night, Cal Fire said.  

Contributing: Kristin Lam, USA TODAY; Alayna Shulman, Redding Record Searchlight; The Associated Press