Search for remains after the Camp Fire, Paradise, CA
Submitted by DIRK SCHOONMAKER
Seven TNSAR members journeyed to Paradise to assist in finding remains of victims of the Camp Fire; Matt Jacobs was on the overhead team and doing a great job as usual. There were still about 150 people unaccounted for and we were given 8 homes that were considered high probability because missing people had lived there.
After fire personnel cleared a property as safe to enter we would comb through the remains of the structure looking for anything that might have been a person. In most cases the entire house was now dust, tile, pieces of sheet rock and appliances in a pile on the ground in the crawl space and we would dig down to where we encountered dirt in a coarse probe pattern to clear an area. One structure had been a 2 story apartment building and in this case the whole second floor was resting on top of the first floor and the concrete floor pieces from above had to be removed to get to the rubble below.
We did not find any human remains. We did find one live, terrified cat hunkered down under the front seat of a burned out Chevy truck and we got it out and took it to the command post after calling its owner.
The damage in the area was horrific - entire neighborhoods reduced to ashes with an occasional unscathed house or car in the middle as a surreal reminder of what it once looked like. We probably drove by 400 destroyed homes during the day and the total toll is now at about 7400 so the scope is almost unimaginable. 3/4 of the businesses along the main drag are destroyed - Safeway, McDonalds, churches, post offices - one wonders how the town of 23,000 can rebuild.
Sheriff
Searchers
Sage Barrasso
Paul Cushing Mark Johnson Dirk Schoonmaker Brad Altman Paul Honeywell Paul Kitano Andrew Cobourn Matt Jacobs
Wednesday, Nov 14
Sheriff
Searchers
Sage Barrasso
Logan Talbott Devin Hiemstra Spike Wimmer Mark Jacoby Jeff Coulter Ryan Decker Matt Jacobs
Thursday, Nov 15
Sheriff
Searchers
Dan Nevins
Andrew Cobourn Tim Bosse Scott Baumgardner Russ Viehman Paul Kitano Matt Jacobs
Friday, Nov 16
Sheriff
Searchers
John Lasagna
Andrew Cobourn Mark Jacoby Paul Honeywell Dustin Phelan
Saturday, Nov 17
Unlike earlier days, where specific houses of missing people were being searched, today's task was
searching an entire chunk of area - all the land, cars, and houses within that area. The effort was
more efficient as there was little to no driving. All 13 members of TNSAR broke up into 3 teams and
searched the SW area of Paradise off Neal Road.
Sheriff
Searchers
Steve Flattery
Andrew Oesterreicher Mark Jacoby Bob Wright Bernie Mellor Melinda McAllister Sarah Carbonari Jimmy Smith Mark Johnson Scott Meyer Russ Veihmann Brad Altmann Tim Bosse Spike Wimmer
Sunday, Nov 18
Sheriff
Searchers
Ken White
Calvin Mitchel Mark Jacoby Paul Honeywell Scott Schroepfer Melinda McAllister Jimmy Smith Scott Meyer Russ Veihmann Brad Altmann Tim Bosse Joe Pace Colleen Pace
Monday, Nov 19
Sheriff
Searchers
Ken White
Jeb Mirczak Mark Jacoby Dirk Schoonmaker Paul Cushing Mike Trombetta John Pang
Tuesday, Nov 20
Sheriff
Searchers
Mike Mason
Paul Cushing Andrew Oesterricher Jeb Mirczak Geoff Quine Mike Trombetta Joanna Wright Russ Viehmann
Wednesday, Nov 21
Sheriff
Searchers
Ken White
Paul Cushing Joanna Wright Geoff Quine
Friday, Nov 23
Sheriff
Searchers
Paul Cushing Paul Kitano Joe Pace
Saturday, Nov 24
Sheriff
Searchers
John Riella
Jimmy Smith Scott Meyer Paul Kitano
Sunday, Nov 25
Sheriff
Searchers
John Lasagna
Paul Cushing Jimmy Smith Paul Honeywell Joanna Wright Spike Wimmer Jeff Coulter Bernie Mellor Mark Johnson