Air Quality in California become devastating to a New Danger
AMN / WEB DESK
The deadliest wildfire in California’s history has claimed at least 71 lives and left more than 1000 people missing, as firefighters gained ground in containing and suppressing the flames.
Searchers combing through the ruins of the deadliest wildfire in California history found eight more bodies Friday, bringing the number of dead in the Camp Fire to 71 as more than 1,000 people remained unaccounted for, reports NBC News.
Seven of the eight bodies were found in the town of Paradise, which was all but destroyed in the fire that broke out Nov. 8, and the other was in Magalia, north of Paradise, said Butte County Sheriff-Coroner Kory L. Honea said. All were found inside structures.
Some 500 rescue workers continued to sift through debris for missing people in and around the northern town of Paradise, one week after the deadly blaze, known as the Camp Fire, erupted and quickly raced through the town. Nearly 12,000 structures, including at least 9,700 homes, have been destroyed.
The blaze forced the evacuation of some 52,000 people who are staying in shelters. Schools across the San Francisco Bay Area were closed yesterday as winds carried smoke from the wildfires.
'I brace myself': anxious search for the missing in California fire https://t.co/SapnhRE3O6 pic.twitter.com/GxcwjjCVia
— Reuters (@Reuters) November 17, 2018
San Francisco International Airport said, nearly 200 flights have been delayed because of low visibility and smoke.
Meanwhile the wildfires that have laid waste to vast parts of California are presenting residents with a new danger: air so thick with smoke it ranks among the dirtiest in the world.
According to NYT on Friday, residents of smog-choked Northern California woke to learn that their pollution levels now exceed those in cities in China and India that regularly rank among the worst.
In the communities closest to the Paradise fire, an apocalyptic fog cloaked the roads, evacuees wandered in white masks and officials said respiratory hospitalizations had surged. Nearly 200 miles to the south, in San Francisco, the smoke was so thick that health warnings prompted widespread school closings. Even the city’s cable cars were yanked from the streets.