Dozens Come Together For Camp Fire Vigil

Dozens of people attended a vigil in Chico Sunday night to show solidarity for the victims of the Camp Fire. The death toll rose to 77 people over the weekend, according to the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. While many who attended the vigil at First Christian Church prayed for healing, others sought answers. “It’s such a tragedy. We just have fire after fire after fire,” said Sascha Sarnoff, who attended the vigil. “No matter what, the public needs to know the origin and why these fires are starting.” Cal Fire is still investigating the cause. However, Pacific Gas & Electric Company reported Nov. 9 -- a day after the fire started -- a transmission line in Butte County experienced an outage minutes before the fire ignited. Laura Martin’s husband works for PG&E. As she stood outside the church, she described some of the challenges her husband and his coworkers face working for the utility company. “They get threats daily,” Martin said. “They take their shirts off to go into restaurants and to get gas because they’re called murderers.” Martin said she’s not casting blame, even as she grieves from the wildfire too. Her father, TK Huff, died in the flames as it engulfed his Concow home. She said she and her brother called him to warn him about the wildfire, but he was convinced he could save his home. “He’s out there trying to put out fire on his property,” Martin said. “And my brother just said, ‘Dad, drop the hose and get out of there!’ And that’s the last we heard of my dad.” Martin’s family grieves not just the loss of her father, but for their homes too. Her relatives lost nine houses in Paradise. One of them, Pearl Lankford, said she’s struggling to grieve “for your home, for your town, when you just want your family back.” “I don’t think anyone did this purposely,” Lankford said. “I’m thankful for every agency that is doing things to rebuild my town and help me get back home.”