The death toll from the Camp Fire climbed to 42 on Monday, making it the deadliest wildfire in California history, as search teams sifted through rubble and ash in and around Paradise for additional victims.
One search crew checking addresses of people reported missing found a body on the front steps of a burned-out trailer in the Ridgewood Mobile Home Park. Team members spent the rest of the day picking their way through debris, turning over metal frames and shattered furniture.
By the time the hearse arrived, the body was in a blue bag. Victims’ remains were found in cars and homes, in Paradise and surrounding communities, authorities said.
“If you’ve been up there you understand the magnitude of the scene we’re dealing with,” Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said at a news conference Monday night.
