Rapid fires ravaged California last November. Many people lost their homes, jobs and even members of their family.

   According to an article by USA Today, 6 people are still missing due to multiple wildfires. About 52,000 people evacuated their homes, camping out in various parking lots or anywhere that is in the evacuation area.

   The fire that caused the most damage is the Campfire blaze, located in Butte County, California. According to an article by SFGATE, Butte County firefighters have yet to found the cause of Campfire.

   The fire has destroyed 153,336 acres of land and 8,804 buildings were burned, about 14,000 of those were homes. The death toll rapidly increased to 86 since the fire started on Nov. 8.

    Mark Russell, like many other victims, had only minutes to take his favored possessions and leave his home for good. Russel has many friends and family members in the Sedro-Woolley area.

   “I had about twenty minutes to decide what to take, thinking it was probably like all the other false alarms,” said Russell. Now there are very few remnants left of Russell’s home.

   Due to the massive amount of rain in the past few weeks, the fire is completely contained. It is great news that the fire is gone, but victims are now faced with dangerous mudslides and flash floods. These floods have complicated the jobs of the first responders, firemen and national guardsmen looking for missing people and random flare ups.

   Bill Coady, a resident who was not present when the fire unfolded said, “We have had a number of flash flood warnings when it rains.” Like Russell, Coady’s house was also burned to the ground.   

   On top all of this havoc, according to The Washington Post, President Donald Trump said after seeing all of the fire damage, that he still would not change his opinion on climate change.

  On Nov. 10, Trump initially threatened the state of California by tweeting, “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. 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!”

   California needs money in order to recover from the fire.  “If we did rebuild, we don’t know if we would be able to get homeowners insurance; it was difficult to get before the fire. We would like to rebuild, but it just may not be feasible,” said Coady.     

   Some victims of the fire, according to CNN, are showing evidence of the Norovirus. The common symptoms are stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea. This virus can be spread in crowded places full of ill people and through contaminated food and water.

   About 1,500 inmates and 9,400 firefighters helped contain the fire, according to the New York Times. Only inmates who have been convicted of non-violent crimes, have the chance of volunteering to become a firefighter.

“I was sad at first,” said Russell, “ But after a week or so, I realized that we almost lost our daughter, granddaughter, daughter-in-law and step grandson. None of our stuff is as valuable or as precious as they are. Since that realization, I think I might be the luckiest man alive.”