California fires leave at least 31 dead, 7,000 structures destroyed

Firefighters in Malibu.
(Image credit: Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)

Several fires burning in Southern and Northern California have killed at least 31 people and destroyed about 7,000 buildings.

These wind-driven fires have burned 196,000 acres, Chief Scott Jalbert of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said on Sunday. The Camp Fire in Butte County has burned 109,000 acres since Thursday, destroyed 6,435 homes and 260 commercial buildings, and is now tied with the 1933 Griffith Park Fire as being the state's deadliest blaze, leaving at least 29 people dead. The Camp Fire is only 25 percent contained.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.