Une vidéo d'un drone montre la dévastation à Paradise, en Californie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fa023r7Tq0w
California wildfires: death toll rises to 59; the fires are still raging.
As feared, the death toll from the California wildfires has been revised upwards. The “Camp Fire” in the north has claimed its 56th victim, whilst the “Woolsey Fire” in the south has now claimed three lives. This brings the latest death toll – which remains provisional – to 59 in total. Not all of the victims have been identified.
130 people are still missing. With fires still raging in the region, the challenge for the authorities is now also to establish as accurate a death toll as possible and, above all, to resolve the uncertainty surrounding the many people who are still missing. To this end, the number of rescue personnel assigned to this task has been almost doubled, and 461 people, assisted by 22 dogs specialised in searching for human remains, are now deployed on the ground.
At this stage, the "Campfire" has devastated more than 55,000 hectares of land, effectively wiping the town of Paradise, in Butte County near Sacramento, off the map, leaving behind nothing but car wrecks, gutted houses and charred vegetation. Located 280 kilometres north of San Francisco. As the fires continued to spread, residents were forced to flee the town in the middle of the night. They found themselves in hundreds of tents hastily erected near the town during the night.
California firefighters have received significant aerial support, but the fire is still spreading. In northern California, rainfall could provide some relief for firefighters, but not until the end of next week. Local authorities have also issued an air pollution alert due to the smoke. The evacuation order remains in force and is not expected to be lifted for several weeks. Even residents whose homes have been spared are not yet in a position to return to them. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint, but we’re going to work on this together and rebuild,” said Mark Ghilarducci of the California Office of Emergency Services.
The cause of the fires has not yet been identified However, several victims have brought legal proceedings in San Francisco against the local electricity supplier, Pacific Gas & Electricity (PG&E).
Photo: JOSH EDELSON / AFP