Death toll jumps to 23 as California battles wildfires

At least 23 people were killed by the so-called Camp Fire in Butte County, authorities said. Most of the buildings in Paradise are in ruin and its business district is destroyed.

Only a day after the Camp Fire began, the blaze had destroyed more than 6,700 structures, almost all of them homes. Authorities said there were 110 people still missing.

"We are doing everything we possibly can to identify those remains and make contact with the next of kin so we can return the remains to the family," Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said Saturday evening.

The Camp Fire is just one of three major wildfires that firefighters are battling across the state. The 70,000-acre Woolsey Fire tore through Malibu mansions and working-class suburban homes in Southern California's hills and canyons. In less than two days, the Woolsey Fire and the Hill Fire, which is also burning in Southern California, prompted evacuation orders for more than 250,000 people.

Officials stepping up efforts to recover bodies

Authorities plan to step efforts to recover and identify people who died in a Northern California wildfire that has killed 23 people.

Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said he will add another coroner's team to help find bodies in burned areas, and he ordered a DNA lab truck to assist in identifying human remains.Honea said in some cases, investigators have only found bones or bone fragments.

Officials are receiving expertise from anthropologists from nearby California State University, Chico.

Honea said 14 bodies were recovered Saturday, bringing the death toll to 23. The fire north of Sacramento has destroyed more 6,700 structures and driven more than 52,000 people from their homes.

Death toll jumps to 23

At least 23 people have been killed by the Camp Fire in Northern California, authorities said Saturday. There were still 110 people missing.

"I know that the news of us recovering bodies has to be disconcerting," Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said at a news conference Saturday evening. "We are doing everything we possibly can to identify those remains and make contact with the next of kin so we can return the remains to the family."

"My heart goes out to those people," he said.

"The fire behavior is just so intense"

Malibu looks like a war zone, with homes and businesses burned to the ground. Charred earth as far as the eye can see. All this, as the Woolsey fire is still nowhere near contained, CBS News' Jamie Yuccas reports.

"It really seems like we are chasing it, it moves so fast, so aggressive, and the fire behavior is just so intense," said Mike Grosenbach, a Los Angeles County firefighter.

Firefighters are working to cut a perimeter around the fire. Students at Pepperdine University in Malibu were told to shelter in place as the flames crept neared campus. Nearby homeowners had minutes to get their horses to safety, turning the iconic Zuma Beach into a makeshift ranch.

"[The Pacific] felt like the safest place to be with the fresh air coming. At least you have fresh air coming off the ocean. The air was so thick last night, you could barely breathe," said homeowner Robin Elmasian.

Firefighter union president rips Trump

Brian K. Rice, the president of the California Professional Firefighters, criticized President Trump on Saturday after he threatened to withhold federal payments to the state, claiming its forest management is "so poor." The president made the comments as the state is battling multiple deadly wildfires.

"The president's message attacking California and threatening to withhold aid to the victims of the cataclysmic fires is ill-informed, ill-timed and demeaning to those who are suffering as well as the men and women on the front lines," Brian K. Rice said in a statement.

"Wildfires are sparked and spread not only in forested areas but in populated areas and open fields fueled by parched vegetation, high winds, low humidity and geography," Rice said.

He added, "Moreover, nearly 60 percent of California forests are under federal management, and another two-thirds under private control. It is the federal government that has chosen to divert resources away from forest management, not California."

Source: CBS News