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Incident commander: preliminary estimate of 'upwards of 700' structures destroyed, hundreds more under review
Summary
Tom Klemmo, incident commander for California IMT-7, said preliminary counts exceed 700 structures lost and that satellite and aerial overflights are being used to validate roughly 1,100 additional 'question mark' areas of possible damage. Final counts will require boots-on-the-ground verification.
Tom Klemmo, incident commander for California Interagency Incident Management Team 7, told the briefing that "over the last 48 hours or so, by our estimates, we've lost upwards of 700 structures." He said satellite imagery and multiple aerial flights are being used to distinguish burned vegetation from structural loss and that crews are conducting door-to-door verification to produce a more accurate count.
Klemmo cautioned these figures are preliminary and will take several days to confirm. He described the methodology: imagery-based 'question mark' areas (roughly 1,100) will be validated with flights and boots-on-the-ground inspections, and teams are creating a virtual map showing burned homes and outbuildings to support comprehensive damage assessment.
