Death toll raised to 84 in Camp Fire; 475 still missing

Kirk A. Bado | USA TODAY

California officials released an update late Friday night on the most destructive and deadly wildfire in the state's history.

The Butte County Sherriff's office announced that 475 individuals are still unaccounted and raised the death toll to 84 in the Camp Fire, which has scorched Northern California. The blaze has destroyed more structures than the state's other seven worst wildfires combined.

Officials raised the already staggering death toll to 84 total fatalities after they recovered a body in a structure in the town of Paradise on Thanksgiving Day. Of those 84 deaths, only 54 have been identified. The fire has killed nearly three times as many people as the Griffith Park Fire – a record that stood for 85 years.

Thanks to a heavy rain shower the past week, rescue crews have begin search and recovery efforts in areas previously too dangers to explore. The death toll is expected to rise in the coming days as search efforts continue.

Residents are just beginning to recover from the inferno. Makeshift shelters have provided relief for some families who lost their whole communities to the Camp Fire. In just two weeks, the Camp Fire has blackened 239 square miles northeast of Sacramento, an area roughly twice the size of Detroit.