Dogs have been deployed in Los Angeles to search for human remains among the tens of thousands of burned out acres, with six fires still raging in California after nearly a week
Los Angeles wildfires death toll rises to 16
The death toll from the California wildfires has risen to 16, local officials have confirmed, as emergency services take drastic measures to find human remains.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner’s office confirmed over the weekend that the death toll from the now six wildfires has risen to more than a dozen. The office attributed all of the deaths to the two largest and uncontained blazes – the Palisades and Eaton fires – with the two having claimed five and 11 lives respectively.
The distressing new toll is up by five on the last estimations from local officials, who have deployed units of cadaver dogs to comb the scorched Golden State. The dogs – trained specifically to recognise human remains – have been scouring through tens of thousands of acres of burned land as officials strive to understand the full deadly extent of the fires.
The grim work of sifting through the burnt-out wreckage that now scatters vast swathes of the Golden State continued on Saturday, with the dogs conducting systematic grid searches. While the search for human remains continues, people have been asked to report any people who have gone missing since the fires ignited to a centre established to process missing persons cases.
Although they are usually deployed to find someone thought deceased, the cadaver dogs are used to do more than find the remains of people who died in the fires, as they can also help “reunite families” by finding survivors, officials said. The Los Angeles Search Dogs organisation states dog teams are also responsible for trailing and “area” searches.
In the meantime, Californians have been asked to abide by established curfews and seek help from assistance centres if needed, with officials warning some have been putting themselves in harm’s way. In an update issued over the weekend, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna called on people to “stay away” from the fire, as they keep trying to view the devastation.
He said: “We have people driving up and around trying to get in just to look. Stay away.” Alongside the more than a dozen deaths, the wildfires have displaced thousands of people as they burn approximately 56 square miles – an area larger than San Francisco. Within that area, approximately 12,000 structures – any type of building and vehicle – have been destroyed.
Hundreds of thousands of people are caught in evacuation notices as the fires continue to spread, fanned on by developing local winds. LA county officials confirmed that the Eaton Fire alone has grown to cover 14,000 acres, and is barely contained at 15 percent despite round-the-clock firefighting efforts from emergency services.
Eaton has burned 7,000 structures to ash, and is expected to continue on its deadly track due to developing weather conditions. Anthony Marrone, the LA County fire chief, said the weather appears windy over the coming days, creating “elevated critical fire weather conditions” until Wednesday.
The Santa Ana winds – famous for having derailed firefighting efforts during previous fires – will be moderate to strong, the official added. The dry winds are famed for their east to northeasterly winds that typically blow from the inland to the coast, and will likely create ideal conditions for the fires to continue surging forth.
