The unrelenting 126,913-acre Carr Fire already has claimed six victims, including two firefighters, as crews faced grim weather conditions leading into the weekend.
Authorities worry there may be more victims out there who were unable to escape the wildfire's fury.
“I would not be surprised if we find others,” Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said Thursday.
While the 20 people reported missing after the July 23 fire began its deadly rampage have been found safe, it’s possible a number of others went unreported as missing.
Those individuals may not have family or friends, or may have simply lost touch with them years ago.
The Carr Fire has destroyed 1,060 homes, but some people living in Shasta County's rural reaches don't live in homes. Homeless encampments are littered throughout the Redding and Shasta County areas, including remote places off the Sacramento River Trail and elsewhere.
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Carr Fire: Oak Bottom Marina damage
Iron Mountain Mine fire
A fire that broke out at the Iron Mountain Mine has been put out, according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman. Iron Mountain Mine is a federally designated superfund site that has highly acidic water coming from the mine.
The fire in an 18-inch pipe carrying acid mine drainage started on July 26 and was extinguished early Thursday, according to Michele Huitric, an EPA spokeswoman.
Highly aciding mine drainage is treated and neutralized on-site at the 4,400-acre mine.
"Due to the inherent risks associated with the mine (e.g., acid mine drainage, confined space, heat), EPA first evaluated the mine using remotely operated tools," Huitric said. "After the evaluation phase, a firefighting team entered the mine to extinguish the fire."
The pipeline spot fire impacted conditions within the Richmond Mine adit at the Iron Mountain Mine site but did not pose a risk to the public, she said.
There has been no off-site release of acid mine drainage that would normally be captured and treated in the Minnesota Flats Treatment Plant at Iron Mountain Mine, she said.
Fire claims six lives
The fire killed Melody Bledsoe and her great-grandchildren, 5-year-old James Roberts and 4-year-old Emily Roberts, after it engulfed a trailer outside Redding in the Quartz Hill Road area.
Two others, Redding firefighter Jeremy Stoke, 37, and bulldozer operator Don Ray Smith, 81, of Pollock Pines, also were casualties.
Firefighters have announced a memorial service for Redding's Stoke will be held at noon Aug. 11 at the Redding Civic Auditorium.
Stoke was a fire prevention inspector who died in the line of duty while helping residents evacuate July 26. The California Fire Foundation’s Last Alarm Service Team is helping with the service and arranging honor guards.
The remains of a sixth victim, 62-year-old Daniel Bush, were found inside his Market Street home in Keswick after the fire jumped the Sacramento River on July 26.
417 Photos
Redding Wildfire: Scenes from the Carr Fire
Where the fire is moving
Cal Fire battalion chief Troy Velin said areas where the fire was very active Thursday stretched from Igo to Grass Valley and west from Grass Valley to Papoose Creek southwest of Whiskeytown Lake.
"The fire is looking very good for us in a lot of areas," incident commander Brett Gouvea said at a community meeting Thursday afternoon at the Redding Civic Auditorium.
However, Gouvea said parts of Trinity County remained in jeopardy.
"We still have folks up in Trinity County that have some threats," he said. "We're working diligently to try and secure the fire up on the north end and the northeast and northwest shoulders of the fire."
The Thursday morning update from Cal Fire showed the blaze at 35 percent containment with 1,658 structures threatened.
In addition to the 1,068 buildings destroyed, flames damaged 186 residences, eight commercial structures and 64 outbuildings, such as sheds and barns. In Redding alone, some 200 homes were destroyed.
On Thursday, 4,271 people were assigned to the firefight, as well as 369 fire engines, 69 fire crews, 17 helicopters, 125 bulldozers and 84 water trucks.
Air tankers joined in fire-suppression missions, Cal Fire said.
Challenging weather returns
The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for the northern Sacramento Valley that went into effect at 8 p.m. Thursday and will last until 11 p.m. Saturday.
The warning means a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures will create very dry conditions and extreme fire behavior.
North winds could gust up to 30 mph near the fire in canyons and ridges Thursday night into Saturday, the weather service said.
Afternoon humidity readings were expected at 10 percent to 15 percent. Friday's high temperature is forecast for 100 degrees in the Redding area while Saturday was expected to reach 96, which is not as hot as it has been.
The weather conditions could bring "dangerous and rapid irregular spreading of a large wildfire," the agency said.
Before being evacuated, my friend @ReallyRedding Skip Murphy shot this amazing footage of a #Firenado in Redding, CA.
Separately, a "serious accident review" crew from the weather service was in Redding on Thursday to conduct a storm damage survey regarding a large fire whirl the night the Carr Fire spread into the city.
The crew's preliminary survey found the "firenadoe's wind speeds, captured by on video by evacuees, between 7:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on July 26 were in excess of 143 mph.
"Preliminary reports include the collapse of high tension power line towers, uprooted trees, and the complete removal of tree bark," the weather service tweeted.
More arrests in no-go zones
Three more arrests were reported Thursday related to people illegally entering evacuated areas. Law enforcement agencies are continuing to patrol evacuated areas to prevent possible looting.
Redding Police Chief Roger Moore told the civic auditorium audience that 22 fire-related burglaries had been reported since Monday — 19 residences and three sheds.
About 10:45 a.m. Thursday, a law enforcement security team came across two Tehama County men who weren’t supposed to be in an evacuated area in Ono.
The men, Travis Timothy Mills and Cory Dean Perkins, were stopped near the intersection of Rainbow Lake and Devils Gap roads. Officers said they searched Mills and found he had a concealed and loaded handgun.
Shasta County deputies came and arrested the pair on suspicion of knowingly entering an evacuated area. Mills was arrested for investigation of possessing a concealed firearm.
Meanwhile, a Redding man who rode his bicycle into an evacuation zone to take Carr Fire-related photographs was arrested by patrolling police officers, the Shasta County Sheriff's Office said Thursday.
Chico police were in the Middle Creek area of Redding around 5:45 p.m. Tuesday when they spotted Joseph Giambrone, 51, who said he rode his bike from the Alta Mesa area so could take photos of the devastation.
The officers tried to give him a ride out of the evacuated area, but he refused to leave because he said he hadn't taken any photos yet, the sheriff's office said.
When sheriff's deputies arrived to help, Giambrone again refused a ride, deputies said, adding Giambrone told them he knew the area was under evacuation.
He was arrested on suspicion of entering a disaster area and booked into Shasta County Jail, deputies said.
In other updates from Thursday:
- Evacuees were allowed to return to several burned areas, including the Mary Lake subdivision in Redding and homes in the Centerville area, Ranch Land Acres and Middletown Park west of Redding. The Sunset West and Sunset Terrace neighborhoods also reopened to residents.
- Five Redding neighborhoods remain to repopulate, police chief Moore said.
- Redding City Manager Barry Tippin said Redding Electric Utility has restored power to "every serviceable home" in the city.
- In another sign of progress, seven roads reopened in Trinity County. The roads are Biggers, Steel Bridge, Lower Steel Bridge, Poker Bar, River, Quad P and Bridge.
- Shasta Union Elementary School on Red Bluff Road in Shasta suffered some damage but officials said they hope to start the new school year "on time or as soon as possible." Classes there are scheduled to start Aug. 15 and educators said the school will be assessed for a restoration process. Right now the district's staff is looking for a temporary location.
- The evacuation center closed at Simpson University in Redding. Evacuees who still needed shelter were moved to the Shasta College center.
- Gov. Jerry Brown tweeted his appreciation for all those working to put out the fires burning in California. "I want to personally thank all of the firefighters, emergency managers, first responders, National Guard members, law enforcement officers and volunteers working around the clock to fight these fires and help our communities recover."
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