One of 86 Victims Of California’s Deadliest Wildfire Identified

One of 86 people who were killed in the deadliest wildfire in California history has been identified.

The Butte County Sheriff’s office said on Friday it positively identified the remains of 68-year-old Judith Sipher of Paradise.

That brings the total number of named dead to 81. Three people whose remains were recovered after the wildfire are tentatively identified but have not yet been named by the sheriff’s office. Two of the victims remain unknown.

The fire in November last year destroyed nearly 15,000 homes in Paradise and surrounding towns. In the aftermath of the catastrophe, authorities used DNA testing to identify bone fragments and other remains of the victims. In some cases, it took months to positively identify the victims and notify their next of kin.

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Topics California Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire Numbers