More than 1,000 people are missing and 71 have died in California’s still-raging Camp Fire, Butte County sheriff Kory Honea said in a press briefing Friday night.
The wildfire, which started Nov. 8 in Northern California’s Butte County, is the deadliest in the state’s history. 146,000 acres have been burned, and 11,862 structures have been destroyed — including 9,700 houses and 144 apartment buildings — with another 15,500 structures still threatened.
Officials said Friday that the total number of people forced into shelters by the fire is not known, but that earlier this week reached 52,000. As of Friday night, the Camp Fire was 50 percent contained.
Compounding the disaster, Butte County health officials confirmed earlier Thursday that at least 140 Camp Fire evacuees at four different shelters have exhibited symptoms of norovirus. The disease is common in winter months and can cause diarrhea, vomiting and stomach pains, and in rare cases can be fatal. Norovirus is generally spread by person-to-person contact but can also be transmitted through contaminated food or surfaces, or through the air.
The Camp Fire comes at the same time southern California is being pummeled by several fires including the Woolsey Fire in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, which has consumed 98,362 acres of land and destroyed at least 616 homes. As of Friday night, it was 69 percent contained.
