This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The Camp fire in northern California has killed 42 people, making it the deadliest in state history, authorities said.

The blaze is also the most destructive the state has ever seen, incinerating the town of Paradise and displacing more than 50,000 people as other blazes continued to rage farther south.

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A total of 7,177 buildings have been destroyed, Cal Fire said. The fire grew to 183 sq miles on Monday, and containment was up to 30%.

Two people have also died in the Woolsey fire, a major blaze around Los Angeles.

On Monday officials said the Woolsey fire had burned 91,572 acres and was 20% contained. “We are working all day and all night to increase and reinforce that containment,” said the Los Angeles county fire chief, Daryl Osby. The fire had destroyed 370 structures, with 57,000 still at risk, Osby said.

Donald Trump said late on Monday he had approved an “expedited” major disaster declaration for California over the deadly wildfires burning at both ends of the state.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A helicopter douses a home as flames encroach from the Woolsey fire. Photograph: UPI/Barcroft Images

Trump tweeted on Monday night that he “wanted to respond quickly in order to alleviate some of the incredible suffering going on”.

The Democratic governor, Jerry Brown, had requested the declaration, which would make victims eligible for crisis counseling, housing and unemployment help, and legal aid.

Trump previously blamed “poor” forest management for the fires. Brown says federal and state governments must do more forest management but says climate change is the greater source of the problem.

Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!

More than a dozen coroner search and recovery teams have fanned out across the area around Paradise in a grim search for remains. They are visiting scores of addresses belonging to people reported missing since last week’s explosive blaze leveled the town of 27,000. Authorities are bringing in more resources to find and deal with the dead, often discovered badly burned in their cars or scorched homes – two mobile morgue units, cadaver dogs and extra teams of trained personnel.

Bright blue body bags are making an increasingly frequent splash of unwelcome color among the ashes and charred shells of houses and vehicles.

Relatives and friends were still searching the evacuation zone and emergency shelters on Tuesday for hundreds who are missing, or repeatedly calling the American Red Cross, hospitals and the police as they try to locate loved ones or neighbors.

Statewide, 150,000 people have been displaced and more than 8,000 fire crews are deployed. Authorities have said 228 people are unaccounted for.

High winds and dry conditions threaten more areas through the rest of the week, fire officials warned. San Diego is under severe weather watch starting early this week, Osby said.

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Around Paradise, about 1,300 people have found refuge at evacuation shelters, according to a Cal Fire spokesman, Steve Kaufman, a total which includes several shelters in Butte county and some in Sutter, Glenn and Plumas counties. But that’s only a fraction of the total displaced from Paradise, Magalia, Concow and other towns in the Sierra foothills.

Many converged on Chico, a city of about 90,000 just 20 minutes from Paradise. Hotels in Chico are at capacity with fire evacuees and some, but not all, shelters are full. Others stayed with friends and family or even in their cars, eager to remain close enough to return home at a moment’s notice, even though that could be months away.

Play Video 0:19 Moment 'fire whirl' forms during California Camp Fire – video

Authorities recovered the remains of an additional 13 people in northern California on Monday. To date, three people have been identified: Ernest Foss of Paradise, 65, Jesus Hernandez of Concow, 48, and Carl Wiley of Magalia, 77.

A Walmart in Chico has become an unofficial refugee camp for those displaced by the blaze. On Sunday, more than a dozen tents lined an empty field next to the store, while the parking lot was filled day and night with trailers and cars stuffed with belongings – toys, pillows and family photos.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Residents locate their homes on a fire information map outlining the perimeter of the Camp fire in Chico. Photograph: Peter Dasilva/EPA

Though without some of the comforts of a traditional shelter, the fire refugees in the parking lot were not forgotten. Local food truck owners were there to provide free food and church groups from around the state cooked and distributed meals. Chico residents provided clothes, toys and gear, free of charge.

Evacuees said they couldn’t find space at a nearby shelter, didn’t want to part from their animals or didn’t feel comfortable at a shelter.

At this unofficial evacuation center, tales of generosity by those most affected emerged. Tammy Mezera and her friend Daryl Merritt spent three nights sleeping in a tent outside the store after the fire forced them to run for their lives. When they found out a neighbor, Matthew Flanagan, had slept under a taco truck, they gave him the extra space in their tent.

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“It’s like an instant family,” Mezera said, petting her dog. “We’re all taking care of each other.”

The three made friends with strangers like Andrew Duran, who sleeps just outside their tent in a sleeping bag. And despite the darkness and loss, they showed endless generosity toward one another. Eating breakfast together on Sunday morning, they shared a few laughs, dancing to Bill Withers’ Lean on Me.

It’s the kind of coming together the community will need, Mezera said, after more than 6,400 homes were lost.

Meanwhile, as firefighters and law enforcement seek to protect the town and its citizens from the deadly blaze, they faced the loss of their own homes. The fire destroyed the homes of 17 Paradise police officers, Chief Eric Reinbold said. None of the officers missed a day of work since the fire began, he added.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Burned out businesses in the downtown area of Paradise. Photograph: Peter Dasilva/EPA

The association was working with the CDF Firefighters Benevolent Foundation and the California Professional Firefighters and to assist those firefighters and their families. Several had already been placed into temporary housing, Aboudara said.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A fireman mops up an outbreak of flames at Foot Hill Park in Simi Valley. Photograph: Chris Rusanowsky/ZUMA Wire/REX/Shutterstock