Camp Fire death toll rises to 76, sheriff says

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Mayor of Chico, California on Camp Fire's staggering toll

Mayor Sean Moran on what is being done for residents displaced by the most destructive fire in California's history.

Five more sets of human remains were discovered in the Camp Fire area in Northern California, raising the death toll to 76, authorities said Saturday.

Of the newly discovered remains, one body was found in Concow, while the other four were located in Paradise, Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea said.

Paradise, a town of about 27,000 residents, has been devastated as a result of the blaze that’s been ongoing since Nov. 8.

A vigil for the victims from Paradise was being planned for Sunday afternoon at a church in Chico, about 14.5 miles west of Paradise.

Sixty-three of the 76 known fatalities from the fire have been “tentatively identified,” Honea said.

The tally of unaccounted-for individuals rose to 1,276, Honea said, while asking the public to check the list to see if their names are on it.

“It's really very important for you to take a look at the list and call us if you're on the list and let us know,” Honea said.

More than 700 people who were once on the list have since been accounted for, he said.

President Trump visited the fire-ravaged state Saturday to see firsthand the devastation left behind. He was accompanied by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and U.S. Reps. Doug LaMalfa and Ken Calvert, both R-Calif., as well as California Gov. Jerry Brown and Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom, both Democrats.

"Hopefully this is going to be the last of these because this was a really, really bad one," the president said while surveying the damage in Paradise.

Last week, Trump sparked controversy when he blamed the wildfires on poor forest management, and threatened to withhold federal payments to the state.

“There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor,” he tweeted. “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!”

The president has since struck a less combative tone and has praised the region's firefighters and other first responders, as well as personnel from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.