Before and after photos show the devastation of the California wildfires
As wildfires continue to rage across California, a set of before and after photos brings into focus the utter devastation wrought by the blazes, particularly in the northern California town of Paradise Pines which has essentially been incinerated by the fires.
As of Thursday morning, the Camp Fire has burned over 140,000 acres and is still raging at only 40 percent contained after sparking to life a week ago.
Investigators are still searching for a cause of the fire.
Once the fire exploded, it was fueled by already unusually parched timber and grasses and driven quickly, burning 70,000 acres in is first 24 hours, by excessive winds. The fire is California's deadliest ever with 59 reported deaths as of Thursday morning and more than 100 people still reported missing.
Meanwhile, in Southern California, the Woolsey Fire was 57 percent contained as of Thursday morning as it had burned just shy of 100,000 acres. The other notable recent blaze, the Hill Fire, was 97 percent contained, some rare good news in a horrible week for the state.
UPDATE: Nov. 15, 2018, 12:53 p.m. EST Updated label on photos and corrected town identified as Paradise, CA to Paradise Pines, CA
Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.
