California fire victims come into focus as search for the missing intensifies

PARADISE, Calif. — Ernest Foss was a musician who gave lessons out of his home when he lived in San Francisco, where an amplifier that ran the length of a wall served as the family’s living room couch. Carl Wiley refurbished tires for Michelin. Jesus Fernandez was known as “Zeus.”

They were among the first victims identified in the aftermath of the deadliest, most destructive wildfire in California history, an inferno blamed for at least 42 deaths, with authorities ramping up the search Tuesday for still more victims.

The flames all but obliterated the Northern California town of Paradise, population 27,000, and ravaged surrounding areas last Thursday. The exact number of missing was unclear, but many friends and relatives of those living in the fire zone said they hadn't heard from loved ones.

Efforts were underway to bring in mobile morgues, cadaver dogs, a rapid DNA analysis system for identifying victims, and an additional 150 search-and-rescue personnel on top of 13 teams already looking for remains — a grim indication that the death toll would almost surely rise.

As of midday Tuesday, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea's office had identified four of the dead.

James Wiley said sheriff's deputies informed him that his father, Carl, was among the dead, but the younger Wiley hadn't been able to leave his property in the fire area to see for himself. Wiley, 77, was a tire-recapper, and the family lived in Alaska for many years before moving to Butte County decades ago.

James Wiley said his father was a stoic veteran, and the two had not spoken in six years. "Hey, I lost him a long time ago," the younger man said.

Foss, 63, moved to Paradise eight years ago because the high cost of living pushed him out of the San Francisco Bay Area, according to his daughter, Angela Loo. He had swollen limbs and couldn't walk. He had also been on oxygen.

Loo told KTVU-TV in Oakland that her father gave music lessons out of their home in San Francisco and turned the living room into a studio. The family couch was an amplifier.

"I love that he shared his gift of music with me and so many others during his lifetime," she said. "He would want to be remembered for being a San Franciscan through and through."

Fernandez, a 48-year-old Concow resident, died along with his beloved dog, King.

Five days after the blaze, over 1,000 people were at more than a half-dozen shelters set up for evacuees. At the Neighborhood Church in Chico, counselors, chaplains and nursing students from California State University at Chico were available to help. Volunteers cooked meals, and there was a large bulletin board with information about missing people.

Eddie Lazarom, who fled Paradise on foot before getting a lift from a UPS truck, was among those staying at the church. He said he had yet to hear from his three grandchildren, ages 22, 24 and 28.

"I am really worried about them. They have common sense, I'm sure, but I'd hate to find out later that they burned up," he said.

The Northern California tragedy surpassed the deadliest single fire on record, a 1933 blaze in Griffith Park in Los Angeles that killed 29.

At the other end of the state Tuesday, firefighters continued making progress against a 150-square-mile blaze that has killed two people in star-studded Malibu and destroyed well over 400 structures in Southern California.

The flames roared to life again in a mountainous wilderness area in the morning, sending up a huge plume of smoke near the community of Lake Sherwood and prompting authorities to send aircraft to drop retardant and water. Still, the number of people evacuated was down by about half from the day before, to around 100,000, authorities said, and the fire was reported 35 percent contained.

"We're getting the upper hand here. We're feeling better," said Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby.

The fire burned through part of a former research site that once housed a nuclear reactor and has been undergoing a years-long waste cleanup. But measurements taken over the weekend found no abnormal levels of radiation or hazardous compounds, the state Department of Toxic Substances control said.

Gov. Jerry Brown said California is "pretty well maxed out" from fighting several deadly wildfires, and he expressed gratitude for help from surrounding states and the federal government. He said the state is doing everything possible to prevent fires, but "some things only God can do."

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said he canceled a trip to Asia and will visit the fire zones Wednesday and Thursday.

The fire in Northern California charred at least 195 square miles, but officials said crews were able to keep it from advancing toward Oroville, a town of about 19,000 people.

The state recently completed a $1.1 billion reconstruction project at the Oroville Dam — the nation's tallest dam, at 770 feet — and officials worried about damage if fire came through. Spillways at the dam crumbled during heavy rains in 2017, prompting thousands to flee for fear of a catastrophic release of water.

The cause of the fires remained under investigation, but they broke out around the time and place two utilities reported equipment trouble. Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, who takes office in January, sidestepped questions about what action should be taken against utilities if their power lines are found to be responsible.

___

Contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Sudhin Thanawala, Janie Har, Jocelyn Gecker and Olga R. Rodriguez in San Francisco.