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While hundreds of families wait in agony to learn the fate of missing loved ones, officials gave a gut-wrenching forecast on the fate of California’s Camp Fire:

It’s not even halfway done burning yet.

Since the Camp Fire erupted November 8 in Butte County, it has killed 77 people, destroyed more than 10,500 homes and torched an area the size of Chicago. Across California, at least 80 people have died in wildfires this month.

But the Camp Fire probably won’t be fully contained until November 30, according to Cal Fire, the state’s forestry and fire protection agency.

“It is overwhelming, I don’t have any word to describe it,” Butte County Sheriff and Coroner Kory Honea said. “This is unprecedented. No one has had to deal with this magnitude that caused so much destruction and regrettably so much death.”

Meanwhile, displaced residents are in limbo. Many are in Chico, Butte County’s most populous city, about 15 miles from ground zero of the disaster, the town of Paradise.

Some evacuees are staying with friends and family. Others are in a tent city in a Walmart parking lot. On Sunday, those seeking a place to grieve trickled into the First Christian Church of Chico for a candlelight vigil.

A sign in the church set an intention for the hourslong open memorial: “We will rise from the ashes.”

The Camp Fire is already the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history. And with 993 people still unaccounted for, officials fear the death toll could keep rising.

Crews are combing the remnants of houses where all evidence of life has been wiped out by flames. Many of the searchers have lost their own homes and are looking for the remains of their neighbours.

While the search for the dead and missing continues, thousands of firefighters are trying to control the blaze. As of late Sunday, the Camp Fire had seared 150,000 acres and was 65% contained.

Though the number of people missing from the Camp Fire has skyrocketed, it’s hard to tell exactly how many are lost and how many may be safe elsewhere, officials said.

“That is raw data we’re collecting from phone calls, emails and the 911 system,” Honea said. “It’s not perfect data, but our thought process is that it’s better to get that information out to help start getting people accounted for. So rather than wait for perfection, we’re trying to get some progress going.”

Hundreds of deputies, National Guard troops, coroners and anthropologists are sifting through leveled homes and mangled cars for remains.

“There are a lot of people displaced, and we’re finding that a lot of people don’t know that we’re looking for them,” the sheriff said.

Butte County is maintaining a list of people reported missing from the Camp Fire. Honea urged anyone who sees their own name or the name of a loved one found safe to contact the sheriff’s office.

cnn.com