A Cal Fire firefighter outside a burning home in Magalia, California, on November 9, 2018.
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California is in flames to the north and south as the deadly Camp and Woolsey fires rage on.
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Both wildfires lit up on Thursday, November 8, and have been stoked by dry, windy conditions. The Woolsey Fire has destroyed parts of Malibu and other areas on the outskirts of Los Angeles, while the Camp Fire ravaged the town of Paradise, California, which is north of Sacramento. That fire has killed at least 63 people — more people than any fire in state history.
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Investigators think some sparking power linescould have been the cause of the blaze. Stocks of California's two largest energy companies fell sharply on Monday, the Los Angeles Times reported, as investors worried about where blame for the deadly fire will fall. A group of people whose homes burned to the ground is already suing Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
As of Friday, the Camp Fire had burned 142,000 acres and was 45% contained. Hundreds of people are still missing, and fire officials expect it will take weeks to finish dousing the flames. In one week, the Camp Fire has already destroyed more structures than any fire California had before it: more than 10,000 homes and businesses are gone.
Here's what the affected area of Northern California looks like.
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The Camp Fire lit up just after 6:30 a.m. Thursday morning. In less than 24 hours, it devoured nearly the entire town of Paradise, California, growing at a rate of 80 football fields per minute.
The Camp Fire charred 200 square miles in Northern California from Thursday, November 8, through Tuesday, November 13, 2018.
Business Insider/Cal Fire
At 9:23 a.m. Thursday, the Butte County Sheriff's Office sent out frantic tweets — first warning — then ordering residents to get out of the way of the flames. "What pisses me off is I don’t think they told everybody soon enough," resident Kim Benn said.
A California Highway Patrol vehicle mans a checkpoint along Highway 32 as the Camp Fire burns in Chico, California, on November 9, 2018.
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At least six people died in their cars as they tried to escape.
A line of burned out abandoned cars sit on the road after the Camp Fire moved through Paradise, California, on November 9, 2018.
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"The fire was so close I could feel it in my car through rolled up windows," Rita Miller, who fled Paradise with her disabled mother, told the Associated Press.
A burned pickup truck rests on Pearson Road after the wildfire burned through Paradise, California, on November 10, 2018.
Noah Berger/AP
Source: Associated Press
Anita Waters, who escaped her mobile home in Paradise, told the Times that she saw cars in flames with people still inside them as she left.
A group of US Forest Service firefighters monitor a back fire while battling to save homes at the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, on November 8, 2018.
Stephen Lam/Reuters
Authorities warned that the Camp Fire's body count could continue to climb, though they hope it doesn't.
Firefighters try to keep flames from a burning home from spreading to a neighboring apartment complex as they battle the Camp Fire on November 9, 2018, in Paradise, California.
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Cathy Fallon told the AP that the fire hit her house like a "big tsunami." She managed to save her 14 horses and barn using a hose, but her house is gone.
Firefighters try to stop flames from spreading during the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, on November 9, 2018.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Source: Associated Press
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"I just kept watering the barn and watering any areas in the barn that caught on fire," she said. "It's a dangerous situation. I remember my son saying, 'Hey! There's no firefighters. We're on our own here.' I'm like, 'Yeah.' We were definitely on our own."
Officer Randy Law tends to a rescued horse as a wildfire burns in Paradise on November 9, 2018.
Noah Berger/AP
Source: Associated Press
The blaze was so hot it melted metal. Allyn Pierce, a registered nurse, told The New York Times that he was in his truck sitting in traffic as a wall of fire approached. The registered nurse recorded a goodbye message to his family members, but a bulldozer cleared the way for him to escape just in time.
Firefighters battle the Camp Fire as it tears through Paradise, California, on November 8, 2018.
Noah Berger/AP
Instead of getting far away from Paradise, however, Pierce drove to help patients at the local hospital, where he manages the intensive care unit. "It’s completely traumatic," Pierce said about being trapped in his truck. "When I close my eyes at night, I see fire."
Medical workers move equipment from a makeshift emergency room while the Feather River Hospital burns as the Camp Fire rages through Paradise, California, on November 8, 2018.
Noah Berger/AP
Erin McLaughlin, who lives a few miles north of Paradise, told the Times that she left her home Thursday morning with her 81-year-old neighbor, Elisabeth Mesones. The two got stuck in traffic outside Paradise and escaped their cars on foot after hearing propane-tank explosions nearby.
A home burns as the Camp Fire moves through the area on November 8, 2018, in Paradise, California.
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McLaughlin, Mesones, and roughly 75 other motorists gathered in the parking lot of a Chinese restaurant. "Everything was on fire all around you," McLaughlin said. "It was the most scary thing I’ve ever seen." The group escaped after six hours, but the restaurant later burned down.
Fueled by high winds and low humidity, the rapidly spreading Camp Fire ripped through the town of Paradise.
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Nearly 5,600 fire personnel are fighting the Camp blaze. In addition, around 1,000 California inmates are dousing the flames. The inmates are paid an average of $2 a day for that work.
Firefighter Shawn Slack (who is not an inmate) rests after felling trees burned in the Camp Fire on November 12, 2018, in Paradise, California.
AP Photo/John Locher
Fire Captain Steve Millosovich rescued this cage of cats from the Camp Fire in Big Bend. He told the AP that the cage fell off the bed of a pickup truck driving to safety.
Millosovich picked up the cats on Friday, November 9, 2018.
Noah Berger/AP
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Hundreds of residents are still missing. On Tuesday evening, the Butte County sheriff's office released a partial list of 100 names of missing people, and since then the number of missing has skyrocketed to 631.
The Camp Fire burns along a ridgetop near Big Bend, California, on November 10, 2018.
Noah Berger/AP
Teresa Moniz was in the town of Magalia last Thursday when her husband, Albert Moniz, called to say flames were approaching their home in Paradise. Albert Moniz, who is disabled and does not own a cell phone, later called from a friend's house, but his wife has not heard from him since.
Firefighter Jose Corona sprays water as flames from the Camp Fire consume a home in Magalia, California, on November 9, 2018.
Noah Berger/AP
The Butte County fire chief said they haven't had any rain in the area since May. Some precipitation is in the forecast for next week, though.
Firefighters hold a morning meeting as they continue to battle the Camp Fire on November 10, 2018, in Paradise, California.
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Red-flag warnings have been in effect across the state recently, which means the weather is ripe for fires due to high winds and low humidity. This has made fighting the flames extra challenging.
A helicopter drops water on the Camp Fire as it burns in the hills on November 11, 2018, near Cresta, California.
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Firefighters don't expect the blaze to be completely extinguished until the end of November.
Sheriff's deputies walk through a neighborhood destroyed by the Camp Fire on November 10, 2018, near Paradise, California.
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Rescue crews are searching for bodies. But sometimes they only recover a few small remains of a fire victim to put in a body bag.
Sheriff's deputies recover the remains of a victim of the Camp Fire on November 10, 2018, in Paradise, California.
Noah Berger/AP
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Other times, only bone fragments are left among the charred remains of a home.
Yuba and Butte County sheriff's deputies collect the human remains of victims of the Camp Fire on November 10, 2018, in Paradise, California.
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A rapid DNA-analysis system and cadaver dogs are being dispatched to help identify victims. But DNA testing can be almost impossible if all that's left is incinerated.
A Butte County sheriff’s deputy searches the property of a destroyed home for a reported Camp Fire victim on November 10, 2018, in Paradise, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Source: Associated Press
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Wildfires are a natural part of California's ecosystems, but they have recently gotten stronger and caused more destruction as the state sees less rain and higher temperatures. Dry, hot conditions, which are partially caused by climate change, are becoming the new normal.
Sheriff's deputies carry the remains of a victim of the Camp Fire into a hearse on November 10, 2018, in Paradise, California.
Noah Berger/AP
To make the situation worse, native plants such as Chaparral, which is a great fire buffer, have been cut down, and more non-native grasses and weeds have moved in, which are great fuel for fires. "Instead of trying to make the fires adapt to us, we have to create communities and live in situations where we allow the fires to burn around us, not through us," Rich Halsey from the California Chaparral Institute said.
Cafe tables and umbrellas stand idle as the remains of Mama Celeste's Gastropub and Pizzeria lies in ruins after wildfires devastated the area in Paradise, California, on November 12, 2018.
REUTERS/Sharon Bernstein
The wildfires have also led to dangerous breathing conditions that extend for hundreds of miles.
Chris and Nancy Brown embrace while searching through the remains of their home, leveled by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, on November 12, 2018. As the fire approached, Nancy Brown escaped from the home with her 2-year-old and three dogs.
Noah Berger/AP
People in and around the San Francisco Bay Area are breathing air that the US government calls "very unhealthy."
Fans wear face masks in the stands during the NFL game between the Oakland Raiders and the Los Angeles Chargers on November 11, 2018, in Oakland, California.
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