Relentless California Wildfires Leave 80 Dead, Over 1,200 Others Still Missing

• 11.19.2018, 11:06
•  America,  World

Noah Berger/AP

The number of people who remain missing in the wake of a pair of ferocious wildfires that have been blazing across both ends of California for more than a week spiked to more than 1,200 late Saturday, ABC News reports.

The two monstrous blazes, which both ignited last week, have claimed a total of 80 lives while laying waste to a total area of nearly 400 square miles, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Officials said that 63 of the remains have been positively identified so far.

The vast majority of the deaths -- 77 total -- were due to the Camp Fire in Northern California's Butte County, making it the deadliest and most destructive wildland fire in the state's history.

The number of people missing or unaccounted for in Butte County was 1,202 as of Sunday, though those figures may continue to fluctuate as authorities track down the names on the list, according to Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea.