Winds ease, but Wine Country fire death toll rises to 31

[riversedge]

Source: san francisco chronicle





By Kimberly Veklerov, Jill Tucker, Melody Gutierrez and Peter Fimrite
October 12, 2017 Updated: October 12, 2017 11:12pm



The death toll from Northern California’s horrendous wildfires jumped to 31 on Thursday as the scorched ground began to finally cool and search-and-recovery teams with cadaver dogs headed into the burn zones of Santa Rosa to find the bodies buried under the ash and rubble.

Fires were still threatening residential areas and evacuations were still in effect on the southeast side of Santa Rosa Thursday, but farther north, the emergency response had turned into a grim search for what authorities fear could be dozens, even hundreds, more dead.

“We’re moving into a recovery phase,” Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said. “That is the reality part of it.”.............................

Read more: http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Fires-charge-on-threatening-Wine-Country-cities-12272778.php

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Lets hope the worst is over.






A hand crew works on hot spots on a hill in the Oakmont area of Santa Rosa, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. A forecast for gusty winds and dry air threatened to fan the fires, which are fast becoming the deadliest and most destructive in California history after destroying thousands of homes and businesses. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press

Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press
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A grove of trees near Trinity Road glows as it burns near a vineyard after a mandatory evacuation was called in the area of Glen Ellen, Calif., on Wednesday, October 11, 2017. The Napa and Sonoma valleys
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[nitpicker]

1. Link to BBC

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41604743

[nitpicker]

2. CalFire update

Now over 191,000 acres burned.

That is 300 square miles.

[nitpicker]

3. LInk to DW

http://www.dw.com/en/california-fires-firefighters-gain-ground-but-death-toll-keeps-rising/a-40934137

(snip)
We have found bodies almost completely intact, and we have found bodies that were nothing more than ash and bones," said the sheriff. Some of the deceased could only be identified by the serial numbers stamped to their medical implants, Giordano added.
(snip)

The home of the late Charles Schulz, who created the famous "Peanuts" comics, was destroyed in the blaze, his family revealed Thursday, although his widow managed to escape. Schulz's son, Monte Schulz, said that all the memorabilia in the house had been destroyed, although most of the original artwork is kept in the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa.

[7962]

4. So many still unaccounted for; I'm afraid its going to go much higher.

Such a tragedy