Death toll jumps to 48 in Paradise fire as frantic search for missing continues

Ernest Foss was a musician who gave lessons out of his home when he lived in San Francisco, where an amplifier that ran the length of a wall served as the family’s living room couch. Carl Wiley refurbished tires for Michelin. Jesus Fernandez, known as “Zeus,” was described as a loving father and loyal friend.

They were among the first victims identified in the aftermath of the deadliest, most destructive wildfire in California history, an inferno blamed for at least 48 deaths, with authorities ramping up the search Tuesday for still more souls.

The flames all but obliterated the Northern California town of Paradise, population 27,000, and ravaged surrounding areas last Thursday, forcing the evacuation of 52,000 people and sending another 1,385 into shelters. About 7,700 homes were destroyed.

The exact number of missing was unclear, but many friends and relatives of those living in the fire zone said they hadn’t heard from loved ones. Some went to shelters looking for the missing.

Efforts were underway to bring in mobile morgues, cadaver dogs, a rapid DNA analysis system for identifying victims, and an additional 150 search-and-rescue personnel on top of 13 teams already looking for remains — a grim indication that the death toll would almost surely rise.

Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea’s office has identified four of the victims, publicly naming three.

James Wiley said sheriff’s deputies informed him that his father, Carl, was among the dead, but the younger Wiley hadn’t been able to leave his property in the fire area to see for himself. The elder Wiley, 77, was a tire-recapper, and the family lived in Alaska for many years before moving to Butte County decades ago.

Foss, 63, moved to Paradise eight years ago because the high cost of living pushed him out of the San Francisco Bay Area, according to his daughter, Angela Loo. He had swollen limbs and couldn’t walk. He had also been on oxygen.

Fernandez, a 48-year-old Concow resident, also died. Myrna Pascua, whose husband was best friends with the man known as “Zeus,” called him a “tireless provider, a dependable and loyal friend, a considerate neighbor, and loving father. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him.”

Five days after the blaze, over 1,000 people were at more than a half-dozen shelters set up for evacuees. At the Neighborhood Church in Chico, counselors, chaplains and nursing students from California State University, Chico, were available to help.

Volunteers cooked meals, and there was a large bulletin board with information about missing people.

Eddie Lazarom, who fled Paradise on foot before getting a lift from a UPS truck, was among those staying at the church. He said he had yet to hear from his three grandchildren, ages 22, 24 and 28.

“I am really worried about them. They have common sense, I’m sure, but I’d hate to find out later that they burned up,” he said.

Greg Gibson came to the shelter for information about his neighbors. He doesn’t know if they tried to leave or not but says the fire exploded so quickly that if they hesitated, they would have had trouble.

“It happened so fast. It would have been such an easy decision to stay, but it was the wrong choice,” Gibson said.

The search for the dead was drawing on portable devices that can identify someone’s genetic material in a couple of hours, rather than days or weeks.

“In many circumstances, without rapid DNA technology, it’s just such a lengthy process,” says Frank DePaolo, a deputy commissioner of the New York City medical examiners’ office, which has been at the forefront of the science of identifying human remains since 9/11 and is exploring how it might use a rapid DNA device.

Still, experts said Tuesday that authorities may first try more traditional methods of identification such as examining dental records. That’s in part because victims might have undergone dental X-rays but not personal DNA profiles. Medical records of bone fractures, prosthetics or implants can also be helpful.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has canceled a trip to Asia and will visit the fire zones today and Thursday.

The fire in Northern California charred at least 195 square miles, but officials said crews were able to keep it from advancing toward Oroville, where the state recently completed a $1.1 billion reconstruction project at the Oroville Dam — the nation’s tallest at 770 feet — and officials worried about damage if flames came through. Spillways at the dam crumbled during heavy rains in 2017, prompting thousands to flee for fear of a catastrophic release of water.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but they broke out around the time and place two utilities reported equipment trouble.

People who lost homes sued Pacific Gas & Electric Co. Tuesday, accusing the utility of negligence and blaming it for the fire.

PG&E did not maintain its infrastructure and failed to properly inspect and manage its power transmission lines, according to the lawsuit filed in state court in California by more than two dozen fire victims. The fire was a “direct and legal result of the negligence, carelessness, recklessness, and/or unlawfulness” of PG&E, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit seeks compensation for the plaintiffs’ losses and unspecified damages.

PG&E has agreed to pay Calaveras County $25.4 million for economic damages stemming from the 2015 Butte Fire.

A Cal Fire investigation concluded the fire began in September 2015 after a PG&E power line touched brush and sparked flames that killed two people, destroyed 1,000 structures and burned 71,000 acres, mostly in Calaveras County. The county sued the utility earlier this year after months of unsuccessful negotiations, according to county spokesman Timothy Lutz.

The mediated settlement reflects the cost of rebuilding and restoring its roads, watershed and bridges, as well as economic loss from decreased property tax revenue, Lutz said.

The amount was smaller than the county had hoped.

“I would be lying if I said we weren’t disappointed” by the settlement amount, Lutz said.

The besieged utility, which has also been blamed by state investigators for wildfires in wine country last October, warned in June that damage claims would likely exceed $2.5 billion from those blazes.

Lutz said the county Board of Supervisors decided accepting the settlement would be in the best interests of the county, rather than pursue litigation.

Thousands of individual claims have been filed by Butte Fire victims against PG&E, and a separate lawsuit by Cal Fire seeking $87 million in compensation for costs related to fighting the Butte Fire is ongoing.

PG&E is expected to begin payments to the county by the middle of December, Lutz said.