(Image source from: www.gulfnews.com)

The United States President Donald Trump expressed dejection at the devastation caused by fires in a California town, yet persisted in his contentious assert that forest mismanagement was accountable for the calamity, which has killed 76 and left more than 1,200 listed as missing.

"This is very sad," Trump said after surveying the remains of Paradise, where virtually the only people out on the road were emergency services workers, encircled by the twisted remains of a community burn down by the flames.

"They're telling me this is not as bad as some areas; some areas are even beyond this, they're just charred," he added after looking at a street lined with melted cars, tree stumps and the foundations of destroyed houses.

The deathly and most destructive wildfire in California's history, the alleged Camp Fire, has present claimed 76 lives after authorities on Saturday confirmed five more victims.

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The blaze has destroyed an area approximately the size of Chicago, ruining nearly 10,000 homes and more than 2,500 other buildings.

In Chico, near Paradise, Trump met with firefighters and some other first responders at a makeshift headquarters.

Senior fire officials recounted how rapidly the blaze spread, complicating evacuation efforts, as Trump studied a huge map spread across a table showing where fires continue to burn.

Reviving an earlier controversy, Trump repeated his claim that California had mismanaged its forests and was, for the most part, to blame for the fires.

"I'm committed to making sure that we get all of this cleaned out and protected, (we've) got to take care of the forest, it's very important," Trump said in Paradise.

Days ago Trump threatened to cut federal funding to California over its alleged "gross mismanagement" of forests.

Brian Rice, president of California Professional Firefighters, called Trump's earlier remarks "ill-informed", noting the federal government had cut spending on forest management.

Asked if he believed climate change had played any part in the fires, Trump again pointed to the forest "management factor" and insisted that his "strong opinion" remained unchanged.

Trump has long been disbelieving of man's role in global warming despite rising scientific evidence that the burning of fossil fuels is heating the planet and leading to more extreme weather.

The inferno erupted November 8, laying waste to Paradise in the northern foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains and sending thousands fleeing.

The Camp Fire and another huge blaze have created an earnest smoke difficulty across vast areas of the country's largest state.

When Trump stepped out of Air Force One at Beale Air Force Base north of capital city Sacramento, the sun struggled to cut through haze so dense it covered the base like a fog.

Over 1,200 people were recorded as missing from the Camp Fire, according to a list issued Saturday by the Butte County Sheriff.

Sheriff Kory Honea has said there could be duplicate names and some people who had escaped could be unaware they were listed as unaccounted for.

More than 300 people recorded as missing have already been found.

Roslyn Roberts, 73, who fled from her home in Paradise, said she voted for Trump but disagreed with his views about forest management.

"I would tell him that this fire has nothing to do with forest mismanagement. Thousands and thousands of homes got destroyed with no trees around," she said at a shelter set up by the American Red Cross in a church.

In Chico, volunteers had erected a tented encampment for evacuees.

The Camp Fire has burned 149,000 acres (60,000 hectares) and was 55-percent contained late Saturday, California's fire service said.

Authorities said 47,200 people had been evacuated because of the fire and nearly 1,200 were living in shelters.

Much of the work is currently focused on Paradise, where many retirees were able to exit in time.

Rescuers with sniffer dogs have been conducting comprehensive searches.

Three other people have lost lives in southern California in a blaze named the Woolsey Fire, which engulfed parts of Malibu and annihilated the homes of several famous persons.

That hell on earth, around two thirds the size of the Camp Fire, was 84 percent contained Saturday as Trump examined the damage at well-to-do homes there.

-Sowmya Sangam