The Camp Fire was the deadliest fire in California’s history. Eighty-five people died in the horrific fire. It started one year ago, on November 8, 2018, and is the subject of Netflix’s documentary, Fire in Paradise. These are the names of the victims who died in the Camp Fire.
85 People Died in the Camp Fire
Eighty-five people died in the Camp Fire, most of them from the town of Paradise. Here are some of the names of the victims, as listed by SacBee and the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. Note that this is from the Butte County Sheriff’s Office, which only listed 84 out of 85 names – a list of those officially confirmed as having died in the fire.
Joyce Acheson, 78, Paradise
Herbert Alderman, 79, Paradise
Teresa Ammons , 82, Paradise
Rafaela Andrade, 84, Paradise
Carol Arrington, 88, Paradise
Julian Binstock, 88, Paradise
David Bradburd, 70, Paradise
Cheryl Brown, 75, Paradise
Larry Brown, 72, Paradise
Richard Brown, 74, Concow
Andrew Burt, 36, Paradise
Joanne Caddy, 75, Magalia
Barbara Carlson, 72, Paradise
Vincent Carota, 65, Paradise
Dennis Clark, 49, Paradise
Evelyn Cline, 83, Paradise
John Digby, 78, Paradise
Gordon Dise, 66, Chico
Paula Dodge, 70, Paradise
Randall Dodge, 67, Paradise
Andrew Downer, 54, Paradise
Robert Duvall, 76, Paradise
Paul Ernest, 72, Paradise
Rose Farrell, 99, Paradise
Jesus Fernandez, 48, Concow
Jean Forsman, 83, Magalia
Ernest Foss, 63, Paradise
Elizabeth Gaal, 80, Paradise
Sally Gamboa, 69, Paradise
James Garner, 63, Magalia
Richard Jay Garrett, 58, Concow
Bill Godbout, 79, Concow
Shirley Haley, 67, Paradise
Dennis Hanko, 56, Paradise
Anna Hastings, 67, Magalia
Jennifer Hayes, 53, Paradise
Christina Heffern, 40, Paradise
Ishka Heffern, 20, Paradise
Matilde Heffern, 68, Paradise
Dorothy Herrera, 93, Paradise
Lou Herrera, 86, Paradise
Evva Holt, 85, Paradise
TK Huff, 71, Concow
Gary Hunter, 67, Magalia
James Kinner, 84, Paradise
Warren Lessard , 68, Magalia
Dorothy Mack, 88, Paradise
Sara Magnuson, 75, Paradise
John Malarkey, 89, Paradise
Joanne Malarkey, 90, Paradise
Chris Maltby, 69, Paradise
David Marbury, 66, Paradise
Deborah Morningstar, 66, Paradise
Helen Pace, 84, Paradise
Joy Porter, 72, Paradise
Beverly Powers, 64, Paradise
Robert Quinn, 74, Paradise
Joseph Rabetoy, 39, Paradise
Forrest Rea, 89, Paradise
Vernice Regan, 95, Paradise
Ethel Riggs, 56, Paradise
Lolene Rios, 56, Paradise
Jerry Rodrigues, 73, Paradise
Christopher Salazar, 72, Paradise
Phyllis Salazar, 76 Paradise
Sheila Santos, 64, Paradise
Ronald Schenk, 75, Paradise
Berniece Schmidt, 93, Magalia
John Sedwick, 82, Magalia
Don Shores, 70, Magalia
Kathy Shores, 65, Magalia
Judith Sipher, 68, Paradise
Larry Smith, 80, Paradise
Russell Stewart, 63, Paradise
Victoria Taft, 67, Paradise
Shirlee Teays, 90, Paradise
Joan Tracy, 80, Paradise
Ellen Walker, 72, Concow
Donna Ware, 86, Paradise
Isabel Webb, 68, Paradise
Kimber Wehr , 53, Paradise
Marie Wehe , 78, Concow
Carl Wiley, 77, Magalia
David Young, 69, Concow
One person, who died in Ellen Walker’s home with her, was never identified even a year later, USA Today reported. The person who died with her was an older man who had dental work.
Stories About Some of the Victims
Here’s a closer look at just a few of the 85 victims of the Camp Fire.
Ernie Foss and his stepson, Andrew Burt (pictured above), passed away in the fire. Ernie Foss Jr., 63, had advanced lymphedema and couldn’t walk, and was sometimes on oxygen. His stepson, Andrew Burt, was his caretaker. In fact, he had spent the last 11 years of his life caring for his stepfather and his late mother. Burt was a hero the morning of the fire, refusing to leave his stepdad’s side, KTVU reported. He was trying to find a minivan for Foss so they could escape.
Foss had moved to Paradise eight years ago because of the cost of living in San Francisco. He was a musician, his daughter Angela Loo told KTVU, and taught music lessons out of his home. Foss’s dog, Bernice, also died. Bernice often stayed by Foss’s bed, giving him company and friendship. Loo told KTVU that a neighbor warned Foss about the flames, but they only had minutes to escape. She said he would have needed to request a medical evacuation and transport. Foss had two children and several grandchildren.
The family has a GoFundMe here.
Lolene Rios, 58, was a victim of the devastating fire. Her husband Rick Rios, 69, survived. They had relocated to Paradise after losing their home to another fire in Concow in the 1990s, Daily Mail reported. After finding out about the fire, Rick went to the roof and saw their neighbor’s house on fire. He hoped he could still save the house somehow. Lolen began gathering their dogs, but the house went up in flames. Firefighters rescued Rick from the roof, and he suffered severe burns to his hands and face and needed skin grafts.
Rick Rios is a native of Guam. Lolene grew up in Gardenia and she and Rick were married for 36 years. She worked for the Walt Disney Company in Anaheim and he worked for a farming company before they retired in the 1990s, SF Chronicle reported.
Rick’s daughter said on her GoFundMe last December that he was suffering from PTSD and nightmares after what happened.
One look at Lolene’s Facebook page and you can see that she loved her family and was devoted to her pets. She posted happy photos of her cat and multiple dogs, along with joyous photos showing her spending time with her family. She also enjoyed collecting and tumbling rocks and would show her latest finds on Facebook.
Robert DuVall, 76, was among the Camp Fire victims. Kim Erickson, his ex-wife, said the sheriff’s department told her that he was found in a truck less than a mile from his home in Paradise, The Sacramento Bee shared. DuVall was an avid fisherman who moved to Paradise about 10 years ago to care for his sick mother, Erickson said. “He was always tinkering, always building. He was extremely talented in that respect.”
Over the year or so before the fire, he had started dating Beverly Craig Powers, one of his mother’s nurses, Chicoer reported. DuVall was a member of the Paradise BAss Club and had built two boats in town.
Beverly Powers, 64, also died in the fire. She was a nurse who worked in long-term care facilities, Chicoer reported. She was described as witty, fun, and full of love.
GoFundMe
Bill Godbout, 79, died when the fire burned down his Concow home and workshop. He was a computer legend and Silicon Valley microcomputer pioneer from the 1970s and 1980s. An obituary posted by Vintage Computer Federation shared the tragic news. Godbout was “a legend in the S-100 community for his 1970s-1980s work at Godbout Electronics and CompuPro… For those of us who lived and did business in the East Bay during the opening years of the personal computer revolution Bill was a friend. He operated Bill Godbout Electronics from a Quonset hut on the margins of the Oakland Airport…”
Godbout’s first job out of college was with IBM. In his book Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, Steven Levy wrote about Godbout: “Bill Godbout… bought junk on a more massive scale — usually government surplus chips and parts… Godbout, a gruff, beefy, still-active pilot who hinted at a past loaded with international espionage and intrigues for government agencies whose names he could not legally utter, would take these parts, throw his own brand name on them, and sell them, often in logic circuitry kits that you could buy by mail order.”
You can donate to a GoFundMe here to help the family, including his wife Karen, daughter Brandi, and Arthur.
Jesus “Zeus” Fernandez was only 48 when he passed away in the Camp Fire, SacBee reported. He was from Concow. A friend shared on the Camp Fire Missing Persons page that he lived on Broken Glass Circle in Concow, at the top end of the Cirby Creek Road area, and was missing with his German Shepherd, King. Myrna Pascua later wrote, “Thanks everyone who posted your prayers and thoughts… Sadly enough our dear friend did not make it but we appreciate the efforts from all that shared my posts or wished us well to find him.”
Family said about Fernandez: “Jesus Alejandro Fernandez, or Zeus, was the epitome of determination, respect, loyalty, and perseverance. A tireless provider, a dependable and loyal friend, a considerate neighbor, and loving father, he will be sorely missed by all who knew him.”