And then, silence.

For nearly two days, Silva’s family called shelters, hospitals and filed a missing persons report with police, Irby said. She posted a plea on Twitter for help. She said Silva had left his cellphone in his home, which was almost certainly destroyed.

“What everybody is trying to figure out is: Would he have gone back to try to get stuff? Did he realize he left his cellphone and went to go get it?” Irby said Saturday.

Police found Silva on Saturday afternoon. Inexplicably, he was without his car. Irby, 25, said the family was still trying to figure out exactly where he was found and how he got there, but his discovery Saturday was a relief.

“It’s definitely the best-case scenario versus the worst-case scenario,” she said. “We’re just kind of looking for answers, but glad that he’s alive.”

Irby’s story is not unique. The Camp Fire, which has become the most destructive in modern California history, displaced thousands of residents as it destroyed 6,700 structures in the northern part of the state and continued to rage Saturday.

For many family members, that meant desperate searches for loved ones missing amid the chaos.

An estimated 52,000 people had evacuated from the Camp Fire, Butte County officials said at a news conference Friday. Sheriff Kory L. Honea said his office had received 35 reports of missing persons. The county is home to 220,000 residents.

“This is a big job for us,” Honea said. “A lot of people have been displaced and separated from loved ones.”

Scott McLean, deputy chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said Friday that it was “phenomenal” how fast the fire spread, and that he expected the death toll to rise. Officials said nine people died in the Camp Fire, and two were killed in the Woolsey Fire in Southern California.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Fire Department said Saturday it had not received reports of missing persons in the fires west of Los Angeles.

Police directed those looking for missing family or friends to the American Red Cross’s website, Safe and Well, where people can register themselves as safe.

Michael de Vulpillieres, a spokesman for the American Red Cross, said more than 3,800 people had registered in the California wildfires since Nov. 8, more than the number reported during Hurricane Michael. He said the site had helped match 539 people with those trying to find them.

Family members like Irby seeking information drew an unexpected champion: actor James Woods, who since Thursday has been publicizing tweets from those searching for their loved ones.

Using hashtags combining his name with the name or geography of the fires — #CampFireJamesWoods and #SoCalFiresJamesWoods — Woods said in an interview Saturday he wanted to use his fame to help broaden the reach of those in need.

“Probably the only advantage in being a celebrity is I have these 2 million followers on Twitter and they are all energized to repeat things,” said Woods, who has acted in films such as “Salvador,” “Casino” and “Nixon.”

Hundreds of people reposted Woods’ tweets. On some occasions at least, it seemed to help.

As for why he included his name in the hashtag, Woods said he wanted to create a unique set of keywords that could become the go-to place for people looking for missing persons. Other popular hashtags used during the fire, such as #campfire, were too muddled with general information or observations.

“Many people have said to me, ‘You’re the only resource where people are getting information,'” he said.

Woods said accusations that he was using the hashtag simply to promote himself were “patently absurd.”

“I’ve got everything I want,” Woods said. “I’ve suffered all of the joys of life and all of the sorrows of life that a person can have appreciated or endured. I just simply want to help people and this seems to be working.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Mihir Zaveri © 2018 The New York Times