Victims identified in deadly Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino county fires

The death toll continues to rise as fires rage on across the North Bay and elsewhere in Northern California. The Tubbs fire alone has killed 14 people in Sonoma County and 6 people have now been confirmed dead in the violent blaze burning in Redwood Valley in Mendocino County. The overall total, including Napa and Yuba counties, is now 29 dead.

The deaths in the Tubbs fire have been discovered throughout the fire’s reach, including the Larkfield-Wikiup area, up along Mark West Springs Road, and Coffey Park and the Journey’s End Mobile Home Park in Santa Rosa, according to fire officials. Some of the bodies were little more than ash and bone, authorities said.

Names of the dead are starting to emerge on social media in posts by family and friends. Here are some of the victims identified:

- Christina Hanson, 27, died in the Tubbs fire. Family members described the Santa Rosa woman as “shining light in the lives of everyone that she touched.” Relatives initially turned to social media Monday to search for the woman, who was in a wheelchair, after learning her home had been destroyed in the fire.

“Sadly our search for Christina has ended with the news of her passing,” her cousin, Brittney Vinculado, wrote in a post a day later. “Please keep her family in your prayers.”

Hanson’s father, Michael, suffered severe burns in the fire but is in stable condition, Vinculado later shared on the YouCaring fundraising site.

- Linda Tunis, 69, never made it out of her house at Santa Rosa’s Journey’s End mobile home park on Mendocino Avenue when the Tubbs fire came roaring down the hill to the east. Her remains were found among the rubble where her home once stood, her daughter, Jessica Tunis, posted Wednesday on Facebook.

“My family is so grateful for the outpouring of support,” she wrote in an update late Wednesday. “I have been a mess, absolutely devastated. Hug and kiss your loved ones extra hard tonight.”

- Sara and Charles Rippey, 98 and 100, died Sunday when they were unable to escape their Napa home. A caregiver reportedly tried to rescue the couple but the wind-whipped fire quickly engulfed the home and caused the roof to cave.

The couple had celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary just months earlier. Their remains we found close together.

- Kai Logan Shepherd, 14, died as he and his parents and older sister attempted to outrun the Mendocino County’s Redwood Valley fire Monday. His body was found in the driveway, his aunt Mindi Ramos said online.

The boy was among the 6 killed in that fire. He and his family were in the northern end of the valley when the blaze raced down the hill that morning. His sister and parents suffered severe burns and remain hospitalized.

“The life they knew is gone. Kai Logan is gone,” Ramos wrote on the fundraising site, generosity.com. “Our hearts are broken.”

Authorities said the family apparently left their home in two vehicles and were headed out a dirt road on a remote section of West Road when the flames arrived. The four apparently left the vehicles and ran. Kai appeared to have headed back toward their home and was found a little apart from his family.

Mendocino County investigators are going through the northern end of the valley where the fire struck looking for more bodies, assisted by students and doctors from Chico State University’s forensic anthropology department, officials said.

Staff Writer Randi Rossman contributed to this report.