The number of people deemed missing in California's devastating Camp Fire in northern California has soared to more than 600 with at least 63 people killed, authorities say.
Hundreds of residents have been forced to flee the area where entire neighborhoods disappeared as the conflagration spread last week. Member of the community are living in tent cities with no sense of when they'll be able to return home - if they even have one left to return to.
The Camp Fire has officially killed 63 so far, but authorities expect that number to rise given the fact that 631 people are still reported missing, according to latest figures from officials. The figure spiked as authorities vetted and verified missing person reports.
"They continued to work into the night and then ultimately they updated it," Sheriff Kory Honea said. "I am fine with them updating that because I would rather get that information out than to wait too long to do that."
The White House announced Thursday that President Donald Trump would visit victims of the deadly Camp Fire over the weekend. The president will view the devastation firsthand where the blaze has charred more than 142,000 acres, destroyed at least 9,700 homes and 11,862 structures overall.
The Camp Fire is so far only 45 percent contained, according to Cal Fire officials.
Dozens of schools were closed Friday in the Bay Area because of the terrible air quality being generated by the smoke, officials said.
Further south, in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, the Woolsey Fire has burned more than 98,000 acres and destroyed more than 500 structures and still threatens an additional 57,000. Some evacuation orders have been lifted in the area, but authorities are warning residents to stay away from areas that have been evacuated until officials give the all-clear.
“Folks are out there working diligently to make sure all the properties that were damaged and also destroyed, that there are no hot spots so that when we do repopulate you that your safety is our utmost importance,” Los Angeles County Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike Inman said Thursday night.
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