Sonoma Co. Sheriff: 53 Still Missing After Wildfires

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — Authorities are looking for 53 people who remain missing in Sonoma County after wildfires that sparked earlier this month. About 200 search-and-rescue workers — roughly half from the National Guard and half from other government agencies — are looking for the missing residents, Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said at a briefing Tuesday afternoon at the county fairgrounds.

Of the missing people, 26 were from the city of Santa Rosa and 27 were in unincorporated areas under the sheriff's jurisdiction, Giordano said.

Tuesday, the county's death toll remained at 22 from the wildfires that started the evening of Sunday, Oct. 8 — namely the Tubbs Fire, which raced west from Calistoga and tore into northern parts of Santa Rosa and outlying communities as many residents had already gone to bed for the night, authorities have said.

Thus far, 14 victims have been publicly identified by the Sonoma County Sheriff's Coroner's Office.

• Sharon Rae Robinson, 79 years old from Santa Rosa
• Daniel Martin Southard, 71 years old from Santa Rosa
• Lee Chadwick Roger, 72 years old from Glen Ellen
• Carmen Colleen McReynolds, 82 years old from Santa Rosa
• Carol Collins-Swasey, 76 years old from Santa Rosa
• Lynne Anderson Powell, 72 years old from Santa Rosa
• Arthur Tasman Grant, 95 years old from Santa Rosa
• Suiko Grant, 75 years old from Santa Rosa
• Donna Mae Halbur, 80 years old from Larkfield (Santa Rosa)
• Leroy Peter Halbur, 80 years old from Larkfield (Santa Rosa)
• Valerie Lynn Evans, 75 years old from Santa Rosa
• Carmen Caldentey Berriz, 75 years old from Apple Valley, California, who was vacationing in Santa Rosa with her family
• Michael John Dornbach, 57 years old from Calistoga, CA
• Veronica Elizabeth McCombs, 67 years old from Santa Rosa

Patch sends our condolences to their loved ones.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.