Bushfire in California intensifies; 71 dead, thousands missing -

Chico: The death toll in the bushfire raging since the last ten daysin the US State of California, burning down more than 225,000 acres, has risen to 71. More than a 1,000 people are missing, and fear is being expressed that the death toll could rise. The local agencies have claimed that this is the worst bushfire in the history of the United States. US President Donald Trump is expected to visit the region to assess the damage caused, review the relief work and to meet the affected people.

Two days ago, 130 people were reported missing in the bushfires in the north and south California. After that, 631 were reported missing in the next 24 hours, and the number reached 1011 on Thursday. The agencies have expressed a possibility that the number may have increased due to duplication. But the locals claim that the agencies are not revealing real information.

The bushfire in North California named ‘Camp Fire’ has come to be known as the worst and has burned down the entire towns of Paradise and Concau in the hilly regions of Sierra Nevada. The fire department has claimed to have controlled 50% of the fire. Maximum deaths in Paradise town have been of the elders. There was a large number of retired officials and workers residing in these areas. Therefore, the elderly who were unable to protect themselves against the fast-spreading fire was trapped in it.

200 flights had to be rescheduled because of the intensity of the fire. The flights are being rescheduled or cancelled owing to high levels of smoke pollution created by the Camp Fire. California has become the worst polluted State in the United States because of these bushfires.

Fear is being expressed that people saved from the fire as well as the firefighters saving them may develop respiratory disorders due to massive exposure to smoke and pollutants, as the air quality has fallen below the levels seen in Dhaka in Bangladesh or Kolkata in India.

Thus, claims of long-lasting effects on the health of these people are being made. Camp Fire has consumed more than 150,000 acres of land and more than 47,000 people have been moved to safer places, whereas the south Californian fire has destroyed 100,000 acres of forest land.

Meanwhile, US analysts have warned that if the Californian administration did not change its Fire Policies given the frequent bushfires, the intensity and casualties caused by fires would only increase.