CALIFORNIA, Nov 14:  The number of people who have lost their lives in the wildfires in the US western state of California increased to 48 on Wednesday, Sheriff of the Butte County in California Kory Honea said.

On Tuesday, the death toll stood at 42. US President Donald Trump said the same day that he had approved a Major Disaster Declaration for the wildfire-ravaged state of California, thus making those affected eligible for state help in housing and home repair.

"Today, an additional six human remains were recovered, which brings the total to 48. All six of those remains were located in Paradise and they were located within homes," Honea said at a briefing.

Three major fires are currently raging in California, with the Camp Fire hitting its north, and the Woolsey Fire and the Hill Fire hitting its south. The disaster, which started on Thursday and quickly spread across the state, has already destroyed about 7,000 buildings and devastated more than 42,000 hectares of the state's territory.

 
• Death_toll
 
• wildfires
 
• California
 
• Butte_County
 
• Donald_Trump
 
• Major_Disaster_Declaration