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Butte County Sheriff Reduces Camp Fire Death Toll by One, to 85

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A search crew member searched in November for human remains at a Paradise mobile home park destroyed by the Camp Fire. The current death toll, revised Feb. 7, is 85.  (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The Butte County Sheriff's Office has issued a revised report on the number of people who died in the Camp Fire, reducing the reported number of fatalities by one to 85 people.

The Sheriff's Office said the toll was reduced after coroner's investigators determined that remains believed to be from two individuals were in fact from one person.

The office also released the names of two more people whose remains had been identified and next of kin notified: Chris Maltby, 69, and Ronald Schenk, 75, both of Paradise.

So far, a total of 77 victims have been either officially confirmed or identified by family members. (See list below.)

The sheriff also announced that the list of those unaccounted for had also been reduced by one, from three to two. That's because one of the three people listed, John Demianew, had turned up in Sacramento police custody this week.

Sacramento Police Department spokesman Sgt. Vance Chandler told the Sacramento Bee that said Demianew, 54, was arrested Wednesday on a warrant for storing his belongings on public property unlawfully.

Those who remain unaccounted for, according to past sheriff's statements, are Sara Fabila-Martinez, 50, and Wendy Krug, 46.

The Camp Fire started near the Feather River, about 8 miles northeast of Paradise, early the morning of last Nov. 8. The fire destroyed 14,000 homes and ranks as the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in modern state history.

Below is a list including all those officially confirmed as having died in the fire along with names of six others named by relatives in media reports, identified in published obituaries or included in legal filings.


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