The death toll in wildfires sweeping California has risen to 31, with more than 200 people still unaccounted for, officials say.
Six more people were confirmed dead in the Camp Fire in the north of the state, taking the toll there to 29.
Those deaths brought it equal to the deadliest wildfire on record in California - the 1933 Griffith Park disaster in Los Angeles.
RNZ correspondent Marc Albert, of North State Public Radio spoke to Morning Report's Guyon Espiner from Chico, about 13km from Paradise - the town largely destroyed by the Camp Fire.
He said people were desperate to get back to their homes but are unlikely to find anything but destruction.
"The saddest thing having been up towards Paradise and Concow is all the desperate people trying to beg authorities to let them in over at those road blocks, begging or threatening authorities.
"They desperately want to get back home because they imagine that maybe their home is safe or maybe there's some belongings there.
"Having gone through, I really would say 19 out of 20 the homes are a complete loss.
"There's nothing left but some chimneys, melted metal, destroyed vehicles - it's completely unrecognisable."
Prevailing winds were taking the smoke southwards, he said. Three quarters of California had been covered, and Roberts said he and colleagues were wearing masks inside the office.
"Air quality is extremely poor. When it gets over 200 [parts per million] they think that's unhealthy - we had readings here in Chico of well over 800, maybe closer to 1000."
The topography of the land around Paradise had likely been a factor in the death toll, he said.
"They are very curvy roads and fewer state routes. The roads in and out of these areas are very circuitous and full of contours and we're not a very prosperous area so many of the roads do not have guard rails.
"When you have poor visibility; you have fire on either side ... I think people were hitting other vehicles, colliding with debris, fallen telephone poles, creating accidents - and once the road is blocked you're in big trouble."
California's deadliest wildfire on record, Trump lays blame
From the US, Washington bureau chief of The Guardian, David Smith reports on the devastation caused by the wildfires sweeping California, with 31 dead and more than 200 people still unaccounted for… Audio
