Camp Fire is deadliest wildfire in California history

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Monday, November 19, 2018
The deadliest wildfires in California history
The Camp Fire has killed at least 77 people, with more than 1,000 still missing. Here's a look at other deadly fires in California history.

The death toll in Northern California's Camp Fire has reached historic levels.

The fire has killed at least 42 people, the most in a single blaze in state history. More than 200 are still missing. Fire officials say it is 30 percent contained.

Sol Bechtold drove from shelter to shelter looking for his mother, Joanne Caddy, a 75-year-old widow whose house burned down along with the rest of her neighborhood in Magalia, just north of Paradise. She lived alone and did not drive.

As he drove through the smoke and haze to yet another shelter, he said, "I'm also under a dark emotional cloud. Your mother's somewhere and you don't know where she's at. You don't know if she's safe."

PHOTOS: Camp Fire burns through Butte County, California

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In this aerial photograph, an evacuee encampment is seen at a Walmart parking lot in Chico, California on November 19, 2018.
Josh Edelson for the Washington Post

The next deadliest California wildfire, which killed 29 people, was the Griffith Park Fire in Los Angeles County 85 years ago.

Here are the deadliest wildfires in California history:

1. CAMP FIRE - (Butte County), November 2018

Deaths: 42

Structures destroyed: 6,713

Acres burned: 117,000

NOTE: Figures accurate as of Nov. 13

2. GRIFFITH PARK - (Los Angeles County), October 1933

Deaths: 29

Structures destroyed: 0

Acres burned: 47

3. TUNNEL FIRE - Oakland Hills (Alameda County), October 1991

Deaths: 25

Structures destroyed: 2,900

Acres burned: 1,600

4. TUBBS (Napa and Sonoma counties), October 2017

Deaths: 22

Structures destroyed: 5,643

Acres burned: 36,807

5. CEDAR FIRE (San Diego County), October 2003

Deaths: 15

Structures destroyed: 2,820

Acres burned: 273,246

6. RATTLESNAKE (Glenn County), July 1953

Deaths: 15

Structures destroyed: 0

Acres burned: 1,340

7. LOOP (Los Angeles County), November 1966

Deaths: 12

Structures destroyed: 0

Acres burned: 2,028

8. HAUSER CREEK (San Diego County), October 1943

Deaths: 11

Structures destroyed: 0

Acres burned: 13.145

9. INAJA (San Diego County), November 1956

Deaths: 11

Structures destroyed: 0

Acres burned: 43,904

10. IRON ALPS COMPLEX (Trinity County), August 2008

Deaths: 10

Structures destroyed: 10

Acres burned: 105,855

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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