National Guard troops from the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos are still working near Paradise, California near the site of the state’s worst ever and deadliest wildfire, according to a spokesperson for the base.
Public Affairs spokesman Col. Richard Lalor confirmed this week that two helicopters were dispatched to the incident commander last week, and he said on Thursday the choppers are assisting in the search for victims near the area of the so-called Camp Fire.
President Donald Trump flew to California Saturday and toured affected areas near Paradise and Malibu, accompanied by Gov. Jerry Brown, Gov.-elect Gavin Newsome and other officials.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea announced over the week that more than 12,000 structures had been destroyed by the blaze and more than 1,000 people were still missing. A total of 76 bodies had been recovered and searches were still going through the ash looking for more human remains.
While a count of the missing is still extraordinarily high, Honea said the number should be reported “in context.”
Lalor said two helicopters and their crews assigned to the search were new M-model UH-60 (Huey) helicopters. They were photographed this week performing rescue assistance near the scene of the deadliest wildfire in the state’s history.
According to reports, the CalFire incident commander ordered the choppers to Sacramento’s Mather Airport in Mather, CA, to assist in the rescue and search for victims in the Camp Fire in northern California. Before this year’s Camp Fire, the deadliest single fire on record in California was in 1933 and killed 29.
The spokesman said the JFTB California National Guard troops are being activated to follow behind fire crews and search for remains.
