Death Toll In California Wildfires Keeps Climbing With More Than A Hundred Still Missing
"I can’t imagine that he is alive, but we have not stopped looking. We are still calling the shelters every day. We are calling the hospitals every day," said Angela Loo of her stepbrother. Media outlets report on the efforts to find missing people, stories of the victims, public health threats from the smoke, and more on the California fires.
Sacramento Bee:
Camp Fire Death Toll Increases To 56; Names Of Missing People Released
Some are missing. Some aren’t. Some, nobody knows. As the death toll from the Camp Fire increased to at least 56 Wednesday, the Butte County Sheriff’s Office released a list of 103 people who have been reported missing since the blaze erupted last week, part of an effort to determine how many area residents actually are still unaccounted for and should be the subject of law enforcement searches. (Lillis, Yoon-Hendricks, Sullivan and Stanton, 11/14)
The New York Times:
A ‘Perfectly Imperfect’ Life: The Victims Of The California Wildfires
In many ways, the story of Ernie Foss runs right alongside the narrative of the state he loved, California. He was a surfer and skateboarder as a young man. He grew up in San Francisco and worked at a store in the hippie heyday of Haight-Ashbury, selling candles and crystals, a job that allowed him to pursue his passion of music. And then tech money flooded the city, his neighborhood was gentrified, and like so many others he was priced out. (Arango, 11/14)
The Washington Post:
Camp Fire: Toyota Offers To Replace Burned Truck Of California Nurse Who Helped Save Lives
By the time Allyn Pierce arrived at his job last Thursday morning, the sky in Paradise, Calif., was an eerie shade of burnt orange, choked with haze. A wildfire had exploded in the area hours before, and the flames were cutting through the Butte County town at an alarming pace. Now, at 8 a.m., they were threatening the Adventist Health Feather River hospital, where Pierce worked as a registered nurse and ICU manager. Pierce and his team quickly scrambled to help the hospital’s few dozen patients evacuate by ambulance. By 9:30 a.m., he and two colleagues were among the last to evacuate. They piled into his white Toyota Tundra and headed south for less than a mile, then east on wooded Pearson Road. (Wang, 11/14)
San Jose Mercury News:
Escaping The Camp Fire, They Heard The Call: 'We Have A Woman In Labor'
Separated from her husband, Anastasia Skinner had been waiting for help for nearly two hours in the panic-fueled traffic jam out of Paradise — and her labor contractions were getting worse. She had nearly been trapped by the fire. With the flames licking at her Honda Pilot, escape had seemed impossible. She had called her husband, Daniel, who was with their two sons and also stuck in the chaotic evacuation. “We said our final goodbyes,” he said. “She said to tell the kids I love them.” (Bartley, 11/14)
Sacramento Bee:
Norovirus Hits Shelter For Fire Evacuees In Chico, Second Shelter May Be Affected
Norovirus has broken out at a Butte County shelter housing Camp Fire evacuees, and an outbreak is suspected at a second shelter.Fifteen to 20 people staying at Neighborhood Church of Chico have become ill, and lab tests have confirmed they have norovirus, said Lisa Almaguer, spokeswoman for the Butte County Public Health Department. (Kasler and Clift, 11/14)
San Jose Mercury News:
Norovirus Outbreak Reported At Camp Fire Evacuation Center
“Norovirus is not uncommon, especially this time of year, and it’s especially not uncommon for a shelter situation where you have hundreds of people living in very close quarters,” Almaguer said. Norovirus is a very contagious virus that causes vomiting and diarrhea, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Green, 11/14)
Sacramento Bee:
No Easy Breathing: The Smoke In Sacramento Hasn’t Been This Bad In Nearly A Decade
Air quality related to fine particulate matter was expected to hit “unhealthy” or “very unhealthy” levels for the seventh time this year in the Sacramento region on Wednesday, more “code red” or worse days than any other year since at least 2009, according to the latest data from local air districts. (Reese and Finch, 11/14)
California Healthline:
For Wildfire Safety, Only Particular Masks Guard Against Toxic Particulate Matter
Toby Lewsadder stepped outside an Ace Hardware store wearing a simple one-strap dust mask. He knew it wasn’t the right defense against the wildfire smoke lingering in the air, but it was all he could find. The local hardware stores he checked Tuesday didn’t have the more substantial respirator mask that public health officials recommend to defend against the harmful wildfire smoke that is blanketing communities across the state. One pharmacy he contacted was selling surgical masks for only a quarter. (Young and Ibarra, 11/15)
Capital Public Radio:
Wildfire Smoke Masks Have ‘More Risks Than Benefits,’ According To Sacramento County Health Officials
Sacramento County's top health official says the risks of wearing a mask to protect against breathing in smoke may outweigh the benefits. City officials may have been premature in handing them out to the public this weekend, the county also said. On Sunday, city of Sacramento officials announced residents could pick up free N95 model masks at fire stations to guard against the smoke settling in the valley from the Camp Fire in Butte County. (Ciaola, 11/13)
San Jose Mercury News:
Non-Breathing Premature Born Boy Revived By Oakland Police Officer
An Oakland police officer is being credited with saving the life of a baby boy, who he found not breathing after being prematurely born to his homeless mother Tuesday afternoon inside her car, officials said Wednesday. Officer Gregory Palomo found the baby not breathing and turning blue about 3:22 p.m. Tuesday after police received a 911 call of a woman screaming and crying for medical aid in the street next to a car on Sixth Street near Laney College. It turned out the 22-year-old woman was living out of the car and had just given birth, police said. (Harris, 11/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Third Body Found Among Wreckage Of Woolsey Fire As Residents Blast Officials About Emergency Response
As a third body was discovered among the ashes of a home in Agoura Hills, residents in nearby Malibu questioned fire officials about the division of resources and rushed evacuation notices during the Woolsey fire’s devastating march through Los Angeles and Ventura counties. (Hamilton, Fry, Winton and Panzar, 11/14)
