ArticleJournal of forensic sciences2020
The 2018 California Wildfires: Integration of Rapid DNA to Dramatically Accelerate Victim Identification.
Article in Journal of forensic sciences, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- A Systematic Review on Commercially Available Integrated Systems for Forensic DNA Analysis.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Pooled it
- Beyond the flames: understanding the impact of loss without body recovery or identification in fire-related mass disaster contexts.Forensic sciences research · 2025Article
- Disaster victim identification: the co-utilisation of applied biosystems RapidHIT ID system and DJI Matrice 300 drone for onsite DNA analysis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- The impact of climate change and sustainability initiatives on forensic practice.Forensic science international. Synergy · 2024Article
- Using DNA to Reunify Families Separated by Disasters.NAM perspectives · 2024Review
- Introducing a Rapid DNA Analysis Procedure for Crime Scene Samples Outside of the Laboratory-A Field Experiment.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Recent advances in forensic biology and forensic DNA typing: INTERPOL review 2019-2022.Forensic science international. Synergy · 2023Article
- Alternative workflows for identifying transnational missing persons.Forensic science international. Synergy · 2023Article
- Development of individual identification method using thoracic vertebral features as biometric fingerprints.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- An in-field evaluation of rapid DNA instruments for disaster victim identification.International journal of legal medicine · 2022Article
- Dreading Yet Hoping: Traumatic Loss Impacted by Reference DNA Sample Collection for Families of Missing People.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Corrigendum: Dreading Yet Hoping: Traumatic Loss Impacted by Reference DNA Sample Collection for Families of Missing People.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Validation of the Applied Biosystems RapidHIT ID instrument and ACE GlobalFiler Express sample cartridge.International journal of legal medicine · 2022Article
- Letter to the Editor-Context-specific considerations for development of guidelines for the implementation of rapid DNA.Journal of forensic sciences · 2021Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In November 2018, Butte County, California, was decimated by the Camp Fire, the deadliest wildfire in state history. Over 150,000 acres were destroyed, and at its peak, the fire consumed eighty acres per minute. The speed and intensity of the oncoming flames killed scores of people, and weeks before the fire was contained, first responders began searching through the rubble of 18,804 residences and commercial buildings. As with most mass disasters, conventional identification modalities (e.g., fingerprints, odontology, hardware) were utilized to identify victims. The intensity and duration of the fire severely degraded most of the remains, and these approaches were useful in only 22 of 84 cases. In the past, the remaining cases would have been subjected to conventional DNA analysis, which may have required months to years. Instead, Rapid DNA technology was utilized (in a rented recreational vehicle outside the Sacramento morgue) in the victim identification effort. Sixty-nine sets of remains were subjected to Rapid DNA Identification and, of these, 62 (89.9%) generated short tandem repeat profiles that were subjected to familial searching; essentially all these profiles were produced within hours of sample receipt. Samples successfully utilized for DNA identification included blood, bone, liver, muscle, soft tissue of unknown origin, and brain. In tandem with processing of 255 family reference samples, 58 victims were identified. This work represents the first use of Rapid DNA Identification in a mass casualty event, and the results support the use of Rapid DNA as an integrated tool with conventional disaster victim identification modalities.
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