California’s deadliest wildfire finally tamed

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LOS ANGELES, Nov 26, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The deadliest and most destructive
fire in California’s history was finally brought totally under control by
firefighters, more than two weeks after it erupted, authorities said on
Sunday.

The so-called Camp Fire, which broke out on November 8, is so far known to
have killed 87 people although another 249 people remain unaccounted for.
That figure has fallen sharply over the weekend, having stood at 474 on
Friday.

“#CampFire … is now 100% contained,” Cal Fire, the state fire authority,
said in a bulletin on Twitter.

Only 54 of the fatalities have been identified, according to the local
sheriff’s office in Butte County, around three hours drive north of San
Francisco.

A total of 153,336 acres were affected by the fire, with nearly 14,000
homes and hundreds of other structures destroyed.

Heavy downfalls that have soaked the firezone in the past days helped douse
the remaining flames, but also made it more difficult for crews searching for
bodies.

The Camp Fire was the second major blaze to hit California in recent weeks
with a fire in the Malibu area near Los Angeles also killing three people.

The smoke from the Camp Fire was so intense that schools in San Francisco
had to close at one point earlier this month as did the city’s famed cable
car and Alcatraz Island.

California’s governor, Jerry Brown, has warned that the state can expect a
growing number of major fires as a result of global warming.

US President Donald Trump, who visited one of the worst-hit towns called
Paradise last weekend, caused some consternation by saying that the fires
were due in part to forestry mismanagement.

Ahead of the announcement that the fire has been totally tamed, authorities
had already begun letting residents return to some of the worst hit areas to
inspect the damage to their homes.

In a joint bulletin posted on Saturday, the police and fire service said
evacuation orders that had in place for some areas over the last fortnight
were being lifted for both residents and non-residents, while warning that
essential services were still “very limited.”

“Prior to returning home, residents are encouraged to take steps to ensure
they have food, water and fuel for their vehicles,” said the statement.

While Brown has warned that mega fires such as those in Butte and Malibu
will cease to be “abnormal” events, the state has allocated about $1 billion
over the next five years for fire prevention.

Much of the cash will go on education and suppression activities such as
clearing grasses and other vegetation, according to officials.

But many experts are calling for more restrictions on housing being built
in forests as a means of eliminating danger before the blazes even break out.
“I think people are thinking about if there is a way we can design the new
Paradise that can look like more of a European village or a ski town, and not
have houses out in the forests,” Bill Stewart, co-director of the Center for
Forestry at the University of California, Berkeley told AFP.

A recent study found that one third of all US houses now are located in
what researchers refer to as the wildland-urban interface, where houses and
forest vegetation intermingle.

While Trump has repeatedly expressed skepticism about global warming, a new
report by his administration warned Friday that climate change will cost the
US hundreds of billions of dollars annually by century’s end unless drastic
action is taken to cut carbon emissions.