EMERGENCY EQUIPMENT TURNED the charred rubble left behind by the worst California forest fire in search of what is leading to nearly a thousand people believed to be missing, while rescuers have made progress in controlling the fire.
The office of the Beut County police chief said late Thursday that the remains of 77 people had been recovered and the office reduced the number of missing persons to 993 instead of 1276.
The Campfire fire broke out in northern California on Nov. 8 and soon came on the mountain town of Paradise, which has a population of about 27,000 and is about 145 km north of Sacramento, the state capital.
Officials said the fire had hit about 150,000 feddans and contained 65 percent by Sunday night. Expectations of a strong rainstorm from Tuesday night raised expectations of a rise in this figure.
But officials said the full containment of the fire was not expected before November 30.
Rain may make it harder to comb ashes and soil on forensic teams searching for the victims' bones. The storm, which is expected to be accompanied by winds of 24 to 32 kilometers per hour, could cause problems for evacuees, hundreds of whom live in tents and cars.
To the south of Sacramento, near Malibu, another fire is also expected to hit Woolsey Fire, which killed three people and hit 88 percent on Sunday.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but electricity generation facilities reported equipment problems that occurred almost at the time of their outbreak.