CALIFORNIA FIRES | Officials reopen major L.A. freeway
PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — Some of the thousands of people forced from several communities by the huge Southern California wildfire are being allowed to return to their homes.
Authorities have also reopened U.S. 101. It’s a major freeway artery through the fire zone in western Los Angeles County and southeastern Ventura County.
The positive developments come even though Monday’s forecast calls for continuing critical fire danger due to gusty Santa Ana winds and extremely low humidity levels. Those conditions are expected to last through Tuesday and possibly into Wednesday.
As of Sunday night, the fire had grown to more than 133 square miles and it was 15 percent contained.
During the weekend authorities reported 177 buildings had burned but said they expect that number to grow when new damage assessments are announced Monday.
At least 31 people are dead in California wildfires. Twenty-nine people have now been confirmed dead and another 228 are unaccounted for in a Northern California blaze alone.
Ten search teams were working in Paradise that was largely incinerated last week and in surrounding communities in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Authorities called in a DNA lab and teams of anthropologists to help identify victims.