Fire Tornadoes reported in Redding Ca.
CHP Warning To Redding: 'This Fire Is Out Of Control'
July 27, 2018 at 9:25 am
Video / 02:57
REDDING (CBS SF) — A massive firestorm swept into the western suburbs of Redding early Friday, destroying at least 65 homes, claiming the lives of two firefighters and forcing nearly half of the city’s 91,808 residents to evacuate from the blaze’s destructive path.
Early Friday, Cal Fire officials announced a city of Redding firefighter had been killed trying to halt the fire’s deadly advance. He was the second firefighter killed battling the blaze.
Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean said that crews had earlier found the body of a bulldozer operator who was hired privately to clear vegetation in the blaze’s path. The fire burned over the operator and his equipment, making the man the second bulldozer operator killed in a California blaze in less than two weeks.
Other firefighters and an unknown number of civilians had burns, but the extent of their injuries wasn’t immediately known, McLean said.
Marin County Battalion Chief Brett McTigue said three of his agency’s firefighters were injured when a “heat blast” overtook their engine as they were protecting homes.
The three were assigned to the same engine company, operating as a strike team. They were taken to Mercy Hospital in Redding, where two were treated and released. The third has been transferred to UC Davis Burn Center. Their injuries were burns to face, ears, and hands.
They were identified as — 37-year-old engineer Scott Pederson, 19 years with the department; 34-year-old firefighter Tyler Barnes, 4 years with the department and 26-year-old firefighter Brian Cardoza, 3 months with the department.
”At this time we are focusing on the health of our firefighters and ensuring peer support is in place for the members of the strike team. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the two firefighters that lost their lives yesterday battling the same fire” Chief Jason Weber said.
As its officers were going door-to-door to help people escape the flames late Thursday, the California Highway Patrol took to Facebook to urge residents to leave.
“The fire is creating a huge wind vacuum and moving very rapidly toward west Redding. This fire is out of control!,” the agency wrote. “If you see heavy smoke or flames and feel threatened, leave… don’t wait for evacuation calls.”
Among those who fled their homes was Alistair Sullivan. On Friday, he stood amid the smoldering ruins of what was left of his neighborhood.
“This came out of nowhere,” he told KPIX 5. “(All that’s left of my house) is a basketball hoop. That’s all just ashes and burnt metal. This was a really beautiful neighborhood…It’s pretty tragic. You try to grab things that you think are pretty important…Then you leave and you think — ‘Oh sh.., I should have grabbed that.”
Sullivan had heard the flames had jumped the Sacramento River at around 7:45 p.m. He was heading home when he saw his neighbors clogging the street, fleeing the oncoming fire.
“To could see the helicopters, there were flames at the end of Harlan,” he said. “When I got to the house, the cops were already there saying — ‘You’re leaving right?’ I ran in and grabbed my papers.”
As of dawn, Cal Fire said the Carr Fire had grown to 44,450 acres and was just 3 percent contained.
At least 65 homes had been destroyed, but a walk through at least one neighborhood revealed dozens more reduced to ash and rubble. Cal Fire spokesman Scott Kenney said Friday morning that the blaze was threatening another 5,000 homes and buildings.
Cal Fire said the ‘mechanical failure of a vehicle’ was the source of the blaze.
Mercy Medical Center spokesman Mike Mangas told the Redding Record Searchlight that the hospital was not being evacuated yet, but they were getting newborns ready, in case they needed to be taken to another hospital.
Patients in the Intensive Care Unit were also being prepared for transfer.
RELATED: List of Carr Fire evacuation orders
McLean said flames swept through the communities of Shasta and Keswick before jumping the Sacramento River and reaching Redding, a city of about 92,000 people — the largest in the region.
McLean said many people in Redding didn’t seem prepared for the blaze to reach their city.
“When it hit, people were really scrambling,” he said. “There was not much of a warning.”
Traffic out of the city was backed up, with drives that normally take 20 minutes reaching two and a half hours long as residents fled to safety.
The 45-square-mile fire that began Monday tripled in size overnight Thursday amid scorching temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions.
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