THE LATEST: Eight More Fatalities Confirmed, Death Toll 56
PARADISE (CBS13/AP) – The latest updates on the Camp Fire:
7 p.m.
Officials say there has been an outbreak of norovirus at a shelter housing people who evacuated their homes to escape the massive wildfire in Northern California.
Butte County public health spokeswoman Lisa Almaguer said that lab tests confirmed the virus and those who were sick have been quarantined at the shelter in Chico, California, but in an area separate from healthy evacuees.
She said she did not know how many people had contracted the virus.
Staff mopped floors with bleach Wednesday at the Neighborhood Church in Chico, where a large room has been converted into a makeshift medical care center.
Norovirus is highly contagious and can cause diarrhea, fever and body aches. It spreads commonly when people are in close quarters.
6:30 p.m.
Authorities have reported eight more fatalities from a blaze in Northern California, bringing the total number of fatalities so far to 56 in the deadliest wildfire in state history.
The announcement came Wednesday after authorities ramped up the search for more victims and said that 130 people were still unaccounted for.
Authorities said the blaze has grown in size to 215 square miles and destroyed nearly 9,000 homes.
At an evening news conference, officials said that more than 5,000 fire personnel were battling the blaze that was now 35 percent contained.
The fire that started last Thursday has displaced 52,000 people and incinerated the town of Paradise.
Officials said that 1,385 people were being housed in shelters.
6:10 p.m.
Authorities have reported eight more fatalities from a blaze in Northern California, bringing the total death toll so far to 56 in the deadliest wildfire in state history.
The sheriff says 130 people are still on missing list.
6 p.m.
Wildfire experts say the Northern California wildfire that has killed at least 48 is the deadliest in a century.
California officials say the fire burning in a rural area far north of San Francisco killed more people than any other blaze in the state's recorded history.
The U.S. government doesn't closely track civilian casualties, and records from long ago are incomplete.
Stephen Pyne, an Arizona State University professor and fire historian, said Wednesday the California fire certainly is the deadliest since 1918 when a wildfire in northern Minnesota killed an estimated 1,000 people.
That fire prompted the federal government to start developing firefighting practices and policies.
3:45 p.m.
A massive Northern California wildfire has forced local high schools to postpone football playoffs for a week.
But Paradise High School forfeited its first-round game after nearly all its players lost their homes. The 8-2 Bobcats earned a No. 3 seeding in the playoffs after finishing last in its division last year.
The team was scheduled to play last Friday. Its competitor, Red Bluff High School, offered to forfeit and allow Paradise to move on to the second round.
Paradise head coach Rick Prinz turned down the offer, saying it was best to end the school's season and focus on recovering from the wildfire that destroyed most of the town.
The 49ers surprised the team Monday and brought it to San Francisco to watch its game against the New York Giants.
3:20 p.m.
At least two dozen people who were trapped by a wall of fire in Northern California survived by plunging into a cold lake.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports Tuesday that the people plunged into the Concow Reservoir after flames surrounded their homes in a community outside the decimated town of Paradise. At least a dozen were in a caravan of vehicles that got cut off by the fire last Thursday.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Division Chief Garrett Sjolund says firefighters helped fleeing residents, distributing fire shelters to those who couldn't stand the water. The shelters are a last resort for protection against flames.
Concow resident Peggy Moak says she and others pulled people out of the lake with a canoe.
Authorities say several of those in the reservoir were hospitalized, some with serious burns.
___
1:50 p.m.
A utility accused in a lawsuit of igniting a deadly Northern California wildfire has acknowledged that it contacted a customer about a power line on her property.
Betsy Ann Cowley says Pacific Gas & Electric Co. emailed her the day before the blaze ignited last Thursday about working on some lines on her property. She says the utility had told her it had problems with sparks.
PG&E spokesman Paul Doherty said in a statement Tuesday evening that the utility hadn't seen anything "that includes a discussion with the customer in question about 'sparks' and PG&E infrastructure."
He says the company reached out about future work on a line that had been shut down.
The cause of the fire that killed dozens and largely destroyed the town of Paradise is under investigation. People whose homes were destroyed sued PG&E, accusing it of negligence and blaming it for the fire.
___
1:25 p.m.
Officials say they're looking to bring in mobile homes for thousands of people who have lost their houses to a Northern California wildfire.
Mark Ghilarducci of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services says U.S. and state officials also are looking into hotels and rental properties to house people driven from the town of Paradise and neighboring communities.
The blaze displaced 52,000 people and destroyed more than 7,600 homes. It killed dozens of people, with more still missing.
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Brock Long said Wednesday that temporary schools and hospitals will be brought in because rebuilding Paradise will take time.
He says the town of 27,000 won't be rebuilt the way it was and that "we will all have to work together to find a new normal."
__________
1:25 p.m.
Army National Guard members are searching a home that burned down in a Northern California wildfire and the surrounding area for remains.
The property is entirely burned to the ground, with giant heaps of bent and burned metal covering the ground. Guard members on Wednesday lifted up and moved metal to search underneath.
Pink and blue chalk drawings of a cat and a flower are still visible on the concrete driveway, one of the few parts of the property still intact. A scorched toy truck also sits on the driveway.
The Guard is focusing its search on homes where family and friends have reported people missing.
The state's deadliest wildfire has leveled the town of Paradise and killed dozens, with more still missing.
__________
12:55 p.m.
Gov. Jerry Brown and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke spoke to reporters after touring the Camp Fire area on Wednesday.
Brown said he signed an executive order that will help with the recovery and relief effort, along with cutting through red tape that will pop up during the clean-up after the fire.
Zinke thanked the local agencies coordinating and fighting the fire. He also made a point to say that it is not the time to start pointing fingers as to what caused the fire.
President Donald Trump tweeted that he had spoken with Gov. Brown on Wednesday to offer his support.
__________
10:01 a.m.
A list of people missing after the Camp Fire has been released by the Butte County Sheriff's Office.
The list has been posted to the sheriff department's website. More than 100 people are on the list.
LINK: List Of People Missing After Camp Fire
If someone sees their name on the list, authorities are asking them to contact the Butte County Sheriff's Office Missing Person Call Center at (530) 538-6570, (530) 538-7544 or (530) 538-7671.
__________
9:05 a.m.
Gov. Jerry Brown and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke will be visiting the town left devastated by the Camp Fire on Wednesday.
Brown and Zinke will be touring the damage left by the wildfire and will meet with residents affected. Gov. Brown is expected to speak after being briefed about the latest on the fire.
The Trump Administration has approved a Federal Emergency Declaration for the California wildfires.
__________
7:55 a.m.
After facing a backlash over reopening despite poor air quality lingering, UC Davis announced its campuses will be closed on Wednesday.
The university had originally planned to reopen after canceling classes on Tuesday after consulting with health and fire experts.
Other schools throughout the region are also canceling classes on Wednesday due to the Camp Fire smoke: Sacramento State (also closed for a second straight day); the Yuba, Sutter and Beale campuses of Yuba College; Stanislaus State in the Central Valley; and Jesuit and St. Francis schools in Sacramento.
__________
7:50 a.m.
A fire official says fire crews aided by cooler weather and diminishing winds have managed to slow the spread of a massive Northern California blaze that killed at least 48 people.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Scott McLean said Wednesday the blaze has charred 210 square miles (544 square kilometers) and that it is one-third contained.
He says strong winds have subsided and humidity is up, helping more than 5,600 firefighters.
McLean says the fire that leveled the town of Paradise "is looking really good at the moment."
He says aircraft including 21 helicopters are helping in the effort to halt the fire that destroyed 7,600 homes.
But McLean says smoke is heavy and low to the ground and that could affect visibility and hamper their efforts.
__________
7:03 a.m.
The Camp Fire grew by another 5,000 acres overnight.
According to the latest numbers from Cal Fire Wednesday morning, the state's deadliest wildfire has burned a total of 135,000 acres. Containment remains the same as it was Tuesday night, at 35 percent.
A total of 48 people have died in the fire. The names of some of the victims were released on Tuesday.
People displaced by the Camp Fire are being asked to go to disasterassistance.gov to apply for federal disaster assistance.
