California fires: Cancer survivor and 'loving father' named among victims as wildfire death toll reaches 50

The first victims of the deadliest and most destructive wildfires in California’s history have been named.

It comes as the death toll from fires across the state rose to 50 following the discovery of six more burnt corpses.

Ernest Foss, a musician who had twice survived cancer, lost his life as the fire obliterated his hometown of Paradise in northern California.

The 63-year-old moved to Paradise eight years ago because the high cost of living pushed him out of the San Francisco Bay Area, according to his daughter, Angela Loo. He had swollen limbs, could not walk and had also been on oxygen.

Ms Loo told KTVU-TV in Oakland that her father taught music out of their home in San Francisco and turned the living room into a studio.

"I love that he shared his gift of music with me and so many others during his lifetime," she said.

Jesus Fernandez, a 48-year-old resident of the rural town Concow, also died in the blaze.

Myrna Pascua, whose husband was best friends with the man known as ‘Zeus’, called him a "tireless provider, a dependable and loyal friend, a considerate neighbour, and loving father".

A Justgiving page launched in his memory states: "Charismatic and full of positive energy, Zeus always brought the mood up and you definitely felt like you were someone very important to him."

The third victim named by Butte County Sheriff Kory Honea's office was 77-year-old tyre refurbisher Carl Wiley.

His family had lived in Alaska for many years before moving to Butte County decades ago. His son James Wiley said his father was a stoic veteran, and the two had not spoken in six years.

The exact number of missing people remained unclear, but many friends and relatives of those living in the fire zone said they had not heard from loved ones.

Efforts were under way to bring in mobile morgues, body-finding dogs and a rapid DNA analysis system for identifying victims.

There was also an additional 150 search-and-rescue personnel on top of 13 teams already looking for remains - a grim indication that the death toll is likely to rise.

Portable devices were being used that can identify someone's genetic material in a couple of hours, rather than days or weeks.

"In many circumstances, without rapid DNA technology, it's just such a lengthy process," says Frank DePaolo, a deputy commissioner of the New York City medical examiners' office.

Five days after the blaze, over 1,000 people were at more than a half-dozen shelters set up for evacuees.

Before the Paradise tragedy, which has left 48 dead so far, the deadliest single fire on record in California was a 1933 blaze in Griffith Park in Los Angeles that killed 29.

At the other end of the state, firefighters made progress against a massive blaze that has killed two people in star-studded Malibu and destroyed well over 400 structures in Southern California.

The cause of the fires remained under investigation, but they broke out around the time and place two utilities reported equipment trouble.