The death toll from the wildfire that incinerated Paradise and surrounding areas climbed to 29 matching the mark for the deadliest single blaze in California history as crews continued searching for bodies in the smoldering ruins, with nearly 230 people unaccounted for.
Statewide the number of dead stood at 31, including two victims in Southern California, from wildfires raging at both ends of the state.
Ten search teams were working in Paradise a town of 27,000 that was engulfed by flames Thursday and in surrounding communities in Northern California's Sierra Nevada foothills. Authorities called in a DNA lab and anthropologists to help identify what in some cases were only bones or bone fragments.
All told, more 8,000 firefighters battled wildfires that scorched at least 400 square miles (1,040 square kilometers) of the state, with the flames feeding on dry brush and driven by winds that had a blowtorch effect.
"This is truly a tragedy that all Californians can understand and respond to," Gov Jerry Brown said Sunday. "It's a time to pull together and work through these tragedies."
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