The Camp Fire: 1000 Missing, 71 Dead, 148,000 Acres

The Butte County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team has been in the areas most destroyed fire the fire.

The Butte County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue team have been in the areas most destroyed by the fire. [Photo from the Butte County Sheriff’s Department]

Ten days ago, on November 8 at 6:29 a.m., the deadly and destructive Camp Fire whipped by wind raged through towns and rural areas east of Chico as residents fled for their lives. Over 1000 people are still missing, 71 are known to be dead and more are expected to be found in the coming days.

Over 11,000 structures have been lost including 9,700 homes. The fire has now covered around 148,000 acres but is now at 55% containment. Tonight, however, Red Flag fire conditions are expected and firefighters are worried.

The Plan:

Camp Fire

Holding the line in Division LL. [Photo from InciWeb]

Firefighters have used backfiring and dozer lines to build low fuel areas to keep the Camp Fire contained.

Today, they’ll continue to do the same as they try to prepare for the increased winds and dry weather that will make the fire more likely to throw embers ahead of the lines and start spot fires.

The Weather:  

Firefighters are worried about low humidity and gusty winds predicted for the last few hours of today and deep into tomorrow. From tonight at 10 p.m. until tomorrow at 4 p.m., a Red Flag Warning is in effect, indicating that dangerous weather conditions leading to fire spreading quickly will be occuring.

The Roads:

Caltrans

Numerous county roads are also closed.

The Maps:

  • Camp Fire Public Information Map –to see details either zoom or click on the map and download a pdf.CAMP Pio 17
  • Camp Fire Operations Map –to see details either zoom or click on the map and download a pdf.CAMP ops 17
  • Camp Fire KMZ Map–Zoom for detail or, for 3D imagery, click on the map and download a file that connects with your Google Earth program. Warning this imagery was captured around 8 p.m. last night and does not show the latest borders.Camp Heat 17

Evacuation Information:

For the most up to date information, click here. Scroll down once there to find an excellent evacuation map.

Earlier Chapters: 

Facebooktwitterpinterestmail

Join the discussion! For rules visit: https://kymkemp.com/commenting-rules

Comments system how-to: https://wpdiscuz.com/community/postid/10599/

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

62 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Willie Caso-Mayhem
Guest
5 years ago

Hopefully the weatherman is right and rain is just a couple of days off. But if it’s to much it can bring up a hole new set of problems, let’s hope there looking ahead.

SourTangant
Guest
SourTangant
5 years ago

Heartbreaking 💔

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  SourTangant

Yes. So frightening.

Overtime
Guest
Overtime
5 years ago

What are PACE lines? As seen on the operations map? Thanks. Great coverage, Kym!

Bushytails
Guest
Bushytails
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

I’m going to summarize that as “Plan B” through “Plan D”…

Beyond words
Guest
Beyond words
5 years ago

At humboldt republic in eureka theres a young woman who works there who grew up in paradise and when i dropped off donations there her bff from paradise was there staying with her after losing everything.
The sadness in her eyes broke my heart.
If you want a local connection to folks tapped directly into the community over there, give a call to the store. They have FB and all that too.

Lets hope all the wild critters can find food, 150,000 gone doesnt leave much to eat.

Dag Hamnersgold
Guest
Dag Hamnersgold
5 years ago

What about air quality?? Bigger issue for everyone

Lynn H
Guest
Lynn H
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Kym, they are also planning on kicking all the people out of the walmart parking lot tomorrow.

I like stars
Guest
I like stars
5 years ago

Friend in Oakland says it’s very smokey there & smells like a trash fire. Heard a radioactive superfund site burnt.

Aargh
Guest
Aargh
5 years ago

Hoping today an actual indoor area can be made for those in the parking lots with no way to get out of the toxic air.

I don’t usually feel this way but right now i wish i had the friggin taxes i paid the feds this year so i could just go buy a few rvs or trailers or even uhaul trucks so folks arent sleeping on the ground in 35 degree weather for ten days. I mean really? Not one big army tent with cots and heaters anywhere after ten days? No back up nurses and doctors?

For that matter one thing we can do is keep on our reps to hold pge accountable.
Really do some reading before reacting, this situation is one of the many reasons so many fight against corporate personhood and monopolization. It doesnt matter which party it is in power statewide, once a corp monopolizes a public service we have to bail them out or they will shut off services. They hold the cards.
So we need to demand de-regulation and that once another few companies control electricity (competition in that industry willbenefit consumers too) then their charter revoked and then ceo’s can be fined. This is their 4th or 5th fatal “accident”.
Theyve already been found guilty in a court of law. They shoulda put the money to upkeep instead of 3 appeals!
& the natl forest clear cutting all the ridges there so no trees to hold wind back anymore, ah its a rabbit hole…..

Its so sad we can let a very wealthy prez use hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to come here to do a photo op instead of him showing up with some tents&cots. I feel so sad for the folks who think hes there to help.
As all climate change modeling showed, the poor are gonna pay the hardest worldwide.

Central HumCo
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Aargh

So true.

” . . . a very wealthy prez . . .” My father-in-law told me long ago, Only the names change.

I like stars
Guest
I like stars
5 years ago
Reply to  Central HumCo

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

If you don’t realize the two party duopoly we have come to accept is a sham, you are a sucker. These people are all the same.

They found a few divisive issues that they use to make people think they are different. Gun control and abortion are the biggest of them. It is all manipulation.

Trump haters, please look objectively and see if he is really much different than Obama (and Bush, and Clinton, and Bush, and Reagan, and Carter, and …).

funnylucky
Guest
funnylucky
5 years ago
Reply to  I like stars

Glad to see that someone has a clue as to what is REALLY going on in the world.

Emily
Guest
Emily
5 years ago
Reply to  I like stars

I see a big difference. The president sets the tone for the country, he/she doesn’t make every little decision. Big difference in tone between every president you listed, especially noticeable between Obama (calm, intelligent) and trump (irritatable and bombastic) If you cant see the difference you aren’t paying attention.

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago
Reply to  Emily
Steve
Guest
Steve
5 years ago
Reply to  Emily

So Emily…what about your brain dead leader that actually said let’s nuke the gun owners…let him give up his first…and all the rest of the liberal gun owners .

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago
Reply to  Steve

Rumor has it PG&E is his 3rd largest campaign donater.

Guest
Guest
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Emily

It is impossible to defend Trump’s lack of tact. Or say that he isn’t reactive. I think it is bottomless. And irritating.

But he is surprisingly effective despite all the lack ofcooperation and vitriol thrown at him. And, when reviewing the transcripts of what he actually said, he was mostly unusually perspicacious. Even though it sounded way off when he said it.

You should not continue the free pass the press gave Obama to perceive him as “calm,intelligent.” He frequently gave speeches that were full of “inaccuracies” that the press routinely ignored. He lied and was not called out. They did not call him out for his endless meaningless statements either. He could give a speech that sounded so right yet, when the transcripts were reviewed, he actually said things that were impossible to be true or added up to saying nothing at all. The few times he was challenged, he sought to blame others. Usually the powerless, unlike Trump who likes to blame the powerful.

Divide by Zero
Guest
Divide by Zero
5 years ago
Reply to  Emily

Running guns to Mexican cartels is not “intelligent”
Making public statements about regional crimes during an ongoing investigation is not “intelligent”.
Sending billions to a country that subsidizes terrorism is not “intelligent”
Supporting the Muslim Brotherhood to destabilize Egypt is not “intelligent”
Supporting radical Islamist’s effort to destabilize Libya is not “intelligent”
Ignoring an Ambassadors pleas for additional security is not “intelligent”
Failing to intervene ,after ample warning, in the murder of an Ambassador is not “intelligent”
Reducing military capabilities while Russia and China are increasing theirs is not “intelligent”
A 8 year average GDP of 1.5 is not a sign of being”intelligent”
Politicizing the weather is not “intelligent”.
Using public funds to buy junk cars is not “intelligent”.

It goes on and on, but one act of sheer stupidity stands out above all; the appointment of the biggest crook in politics to run the State Dept.

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago
Reply to  Divide by Zero

Don’t stop, you were just getting warmed up!

Divide by Zero
Guest
Divide by Zero
5 years ago
Reply to  shak

OK shak, and here’s on of my favorites.
Hiring CGI Federal to design a website with a no bid contract to a company fired by the Canadian Govt. for gross incompetence in the matter of designing a website. Said CGI after blowing 678 million dollars was finally replaced after failing again. Of course it’s a coincidence that Toni Townes Whitley, senior vice-president of CGI, was a classmate of M. Obama and both belonged to several student groups at Princeton and are both members of the Association of Black Princeton Alumni.

comment image

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago
Reply to  Divide by Zero

Out here in the real world, they would tag many labels of criminal activity onto them both. Money laundering comes to mind.

Please, go on, you’re on a roll!

Huh?
Guest
Huh?
5 years ago
Reply to  I like stars

Puhleeeez. Wake the fuck up and smell the fascism

Mr Right
Guest
Mr Right
5 years ago
Reply to  Aargh

You crazy libs blame the President for everything while you welcome hundreds of criminal aliens over the borders. Kim Bergel is one of you traitors.

As for the fire, protect your homes, clear brush, have metal roofs. Calfire knows what they are talking about. Prevention is key. And don’t panic. Evacuate early and you live.

'Merican
Guest
'Merican
5 years ago
Reply to  Aargh

You are right on every point. Thanks for articulating the situation so well.

Willie caos- mayhem
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  Aargh

Wasn’t this about fire victims and how to help them not a political forum. If you think you have love ones that might be in one of the shelters try
safeandwell.org

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago
Reply to  Aargh
Central HumCo
Guest
5 years ago

https://vimeo.com/301077903 Paradise, republicans, gold. At 4:21 it goes into a health sales pitch.

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago
Reply to  Central HumCo

I ran across that earlier, but the tweeter also mentioned that the claims in the post hadn’t been verified yet, so to take it with the typical grain of salt.
It may or may not be true, or half of it true. But, when it’s true, the documented facts are usually posted along with it. Investigate for ourselves, never trust another’s unverified accounting. Verify.

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago
Reply to  Central HumCo

Have you found any verifications of the person’s concerns yet? I still haven’t and I’d think the boards would be full of them by now. Maybe they all have their hands busy investigating other data.
Some of the questions have centered around Khashoggi. Something about his having lived in that area & his documents had a hit on them. (That’s a whole new ball of wax, considering the ties he tied to. Dad was an arms dealer, who’s brother or some relation had ties with Princess Diane’s boyfriend who’s daddy had ties to Bush who had ties with the Bay of Pigs which tied back full circle to … it’s complicated).

I’ll try to find this bookmark & check in later. I’m really curious if his claims were verified yet or not.

Ernie Branscomb
Guest
Ernie Branscomb
5 years ago

I wonder if Diana Totten will get to meet the President.
Southern Humboldt’s’s most famous firefighter might meet meet the nation’s most famous.

Mobius Dancer
Guest
Mobius Dancer
5 years ago

For Diana Totten I have nothing but respect.
A Brave and Dedicated Individual.

For the other one – a lumbering beast that I, for one, never wish to encounter – I have nothing but contempt.

The Photo Op for Diana might be good…

Ernie
Guest
Ernie
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Diana gives a fire her all. It leaves little room for goof-off time. Still, I would like to see her meet the President.

Kym, thanks again for your great coverage.

This fire is a real heartbreaker, and I think no matter what your opinion on politics, Trump will be kicking down help. Let’s not be kicking him in the teeth.

“This is no time for politics” Jerry Brown.

Another fishwife
Guest
Another fishwife
5 years ago
Reply to  Ernie

Jerry Brown was helping out last week while trump was calling out California for “poor forest management” in an area that Cal Fire says is under Federal control & management

Huh?
Guest
Huh?
5 years ago
Reply to  Ernie

Maybe he’ll give her some paper towels

Fndrbndr
Guest
Fndrbndr
5 years ago
Reply to  Kym Kemp

Wow, a firefighter also. We have a lot more in common than I thought.

Horseshoe Meadow Hotshots Sequoia NF

Al
Guest
Al
5 years ago

There are hundreds of camp fire evacuees in the Chico Walmart parking lot
as shown in this link
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JISXGqwq1K8

several volunteers are trying to help them so they don’t have to go to the
Red Cross shelters that have norovirus outbreaks.

Thanks for the news.

Lynn H
Guest
Lynn H
5 years ago
Reply to  Al

Most of the shelters are full and few accept pets. They are kicking people out of the wallmart parking lot tomorrow. 10 percent of all housing in that county has been destroyed and a much larger percentage of low income/working class housing. Motels are full. The people who have gone back to their lots or homes that escaped the fire have had to sneak in, and once they are in they can’t leave because they won’t be allowed back in. They need water and food for themselves and animals. On top of that a lot of places people worked have burned down.

Chuck U
Guest
Chuck U
5 years ago
Reply to  Lynn H

Trying to wait it out hiding in the mandatory evacuation area is extremely hard unless one was very well stocked before the disaster and have your own power, septic and water. Even with all that 3-4 weeks is pretty taxing, done it twice and I had 200 acres to stretch my legs, police presence seems pretty tight in Paradise.

S
Guest
S
5 years ago

If you know of any displaced people from the fires here in Eureka, bring them over to the Eureka Methodist Church today 5:30 for free eats and make some community connections.

LuckyPunk
Guest
LuckyPunk
5 years ago
Reply to  S

Let the homeless sleep thereat night

Nah
Guest
Nah
5 years ago
Reply to  LuckyPunk

that’s something Jesus would have done. Not really how churches work.

TQM
Guest
TQM
5 years ago

It’s the new mother nature taking over.

Central HumCo
Guest
5 years ago
Reply to  TQM

…ahhhh.

Janice
Guest
Janice
5 years ago
Reply to  TQM

It’s the new splendid lady come to call; she’s gettin us all.

Life is Good
Guest
Life is Good
5 years ago

I’m sure Chico State and Butte College both have large heated gymnasiums with bathroom facilities and showers. Both are public entities. We can live without basketball and volleyball for a while and start moving some of these WalMart people in there.

Lynn H
Guest
Lynn H
5 years ago
Reply to  Life is Good

Great idea. I wish people would just crash that en mass, it would be terrible PR to turn them away, but we are so disorganized in this day and age.

Willie caos- mayhem
Guest
5 years ago

😱😱FROST ADVOSORY 😱😱
View site for Hazard Area’s
http://ww.wrh.noaa.gov/map

Laura hall
Guest
Laura hall
5 years ago

When will the populace demand that the SRM (solar radiation management) be stopped as the aluminum oxide is very flammable.
Laura

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago
Reply to  Laura hall

Maybe they’re obsessed with seeing all the doom and gloom video’s and photos and kind of like it when the magnesium is added for the thermite effect.

Laura hall
Guest
Laura hall
5 years ago

The spraying of aluminum oxide is very flammable. Solar radiation management needs to stop.

Huh?
Guest
Huh?
5 years ago
Reply to  Laura hall

Isn’t your tin hat also flammable?

shak
Guest
shak
5 years ago
Reply to  Huh?

Only Kindergartners think that tin hat wearers must be insulted when insulted for sharing their info. FYI, everyone who wears them considers the insults a badge of honor. Thought you might like to know how silly you appear right now.

Chuck U
Guest
Chuck U
5 years ago

Airbnb finally opened their evacuee program geographic area all the way to the coast, so you can sign up your rental to host for free anywhere in the Emerald Triangle with all the insurance and legal taken care of. Sign up here, or send someone here if they are an evacuee looking for shelter. If you called and begged them to do this thank you! I was just one and they told me to piss off…

https://www.airbnb.com/welcome/evacuees/buttecounty

Lynn H
Guest
Lynn H
5 years ago
Reply to  Chuck U

Good for you. And coudos for sticking it out in an evacuation zone twice. You’ve got cojones.

Poppins
Guest
Poppins
5 years ago

The harsh reality is that there are not enough shelters set up.

News reports state yesterday that approximately 1,700 folks are in official shelters.

Out of an estimated 30,000 displaced from the fire in and around Paradise.

Folks have dispersed throughout the north state.

The glut of material goods donated are being stuck in a logistics limbo, with inclement weather on the way community based humanitarian groups are trying to figure out how to get what is needed to the folks in the north state.

The problems facing those in charge is being able to net work and process the donations.

Rumor control is also an issue. It would be great to see a comprehensive listing of north coast grouos reaching out to folks.

A dear friend went to the services hub at the old Chico Mall yesterday and after waiting in line for hours was given a huge stack of paper work to fill out by FEMA, once the packet was completed, he got back in line, only to be told to come back in a few days because the first priority was servicing those officially registered in an official shelter.

He and his wife were staying in their car and a donated tent due to lack of available space in a shelter.

His neighbor from Paradise happened to be in line behind him and he took them home to his daughters apartment where there were already eight evacuated folks staying.

So, the frustration folks face in getting access to assistance is a very real daily burden.

One to one person to person help seems to be how the majority of folks are getting by.

The Power of One.

Yes, the rules and regulations of government assistance is in place, for valid reasons, and this Boggs down the process of getting help to who needs it is a very grueling experience.

If the agencies involved thought out side of the box of past practices, networked more efficiently with community efforts I think more needs would be met.

One Chico man I met at the Ace store in Mckinleyville a few days ago said, “This is a marathon, not a sprint.”

By accessing face books grouos such as Pedro GTP Relief, Pay It Forward Humboldt, Needhub,
Butte Camp Fire Fire Victims Adopt A Family means strategic one to one gifting can happen quickly.

Encouraging your out of area family and friends to assist humanitarian grouos in their locale means that folks displaced far from Butte county can get needed assistance.

Lynn H
Guest
Lynn H
5 years ago

I think every mountain town needs a large cleared area to shelter in place when there is no other option.

gunther
Guest
gunther
5 years ago
Reply to  Lynn H

Excellent idea. Big open spaces that could be used for other events too, like soccer, baseball, whatever.

local observer
Guest
local observer
5 years ago
Reply to  Lynn H

many animals survived, even house cats. there is a lot to be learned from this unique fire. cutting live vegetation means we lose moisture storage what appears based on the photos is something we need.