BREAKING NEWS

Rain eases search for those missing from California wildfire

Teams searching for remains from the deadliest wildfire in California history were able to comb through wreckage in dry weather on Saturday, but rains are expected to return next week and officials warned of a threat of mudslides.
The so-called Camp Fire all but obliterated the mountain community of Paradise, 175 miles (280 km) northeast of San Francisco, on Nov. 8, killing at least 85 people and destroying nearly 14,000 homes. The death toll was increased late Saturday night by one, according to the Butte County Sheriff's Office.
Some 475 people from Paradise and surrounding communities remain unaccounted for, according to the Butte County Sheriff's Office.
Hundreds of police officers and volunteers have searched in and around Paradise since the fire swept through the area.
The 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) of rain that fell there during the last few days turned ash from the thousands of destroyed homes into slurry, complicating the work of finding bodies reduced to bone fragments.
Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea has warned that remains of some victims may never be found.
Teams resumed their search on Saturday, Butte County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Miranda Bowersox said, ahead of more rains that are expected to start on Wednesday.
A total of 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) of rain is forecast for areas burned by the Camp Fire from Wednesday through Saturday, said meteorologist David Roth of the federal Weather Prediction Center.