Camp Fire Death Toll Climbs To 83, List Of Missing At 560
BUTTE COUNTY (CBS/AP) -- Authorities in Butte County announced Wednesday evening that two more sets of human remains have been found, bringing death toll from the Camp Fire to 83.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said more than 560 names remain on the missing list during his nightly press conference updating the media on the fire.
Authorities stressed that many of the people on the list may be safe and unaware they have been reported missing.
Meanwhile, Cal Fire officials said that as of Wednesday evening, the fire was at 153,336 acres in size and 85 percent contained with the total number of structures lost numbering 18,431. Of those, more than 13,500 were single-family homes.
CAL OES announced that in the next week, they will begin collecting all hazardous waste material including propane tanks from the area damaged by the fire. Officials expect the process will last a couple of months. Once completed, the agency will then start removal of all other burned material.
Paradise Police said they are working on a re-entry program for residents and announced they plan to give people a 24-hour notice.
Schools in Butte County are set to reopen on December 3rd..
Earlier Wednesday, a woman whose father was killed in the catastrophic Camp Fire filed suit against Pacific Gas & Electric Co., saying the utility could have prevented the fire which has been blamed in the deaths of at least 81 people.
Neva Rodrigues filed the lawsuit Wednesday in San Francisco. The lawsuit says a body was found in the burned home where her father, 73-year-old Jerry Rodrigues, lived alone in a Paradise mobile home park.
PG&E reported in a regulatory filing earlier this week that it experienced an outage on a transmission line minutes before the Camp Fire broke out on November 8. So far, the cause of the fire has not officially been determined.
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At least two other lawsuits have been filed against PG&E from people who lost their homes.
A PG&E spokeswoman says safety is the company's highest priority. The company has warned investors its liability may exceed its insurance if it is found responsible.
Hundreds are still missing in the fire which destroyed more than 13,000 single-family homes and nearly 300 multi-residence buildings. More than 150,00 acres have burned and fire was 80 percent contained Wednesday.
© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
