8 confirmed dead in California fire, thousands evacuated

At Paradise, north of Sacramento, California on November 9, 2018
At least nine people have died in a fierce fire that has raged since Thursday in northern California, while further south, the famous resort of Malibu is threatened by another home that is spreading rapidly.

“It’s my sad duty to confirm that we now have a total of nine dead,” Korey Honea, the Butte County Sheriff, said late Friday.

The sheriff’s men on Thursday found five victims in the city of Paradise, north of the capital Sacramento, whose 26,000 residents had all been ordered to evacuate.

Four victims were in their vehicles and one was on the ground nearby. “Because of their burns, these people who tried to escape could not be immediately identified,” said the sheriff’s services on Friday.

Three deaths were discovered Friday outside a house and another at home.

Dozens more were missing.

Nearly 600 km further south, near Los Angeles, the city of Malibu was on high alert because of a violent fire that had started the day before, some twenty kilometers to the north.

Several celebrities, many to live in this opulent region, had to evacuate, like Kim Kardashian, the actress Alyssa Milano and the Mexican director Guillermo del Toro.

In total, nearly 150,000 people were evacuated to California.