Carr Fire near Redding: 2 killed, 500 homes destroyed, 48,000 acres burned

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A Redding firefighter and bulldozer operator have died in the so-called Carr Fire, an explosive wildfire in Northern California that has burned 48,000 acres and destroyed at least 500 homes.
REDDING, Calif. --
An explosive wildfire that roared with little warning into a Northern California city claimed a second life and thousands more people abandoned their homes, some of them slipping out just ahead of the walls of flame, authorities said Friday.

In all, an estimated 38,000 people have fled from the so-called Carr Fire, which began Monday and had burned 48,000 acres with just 5 percent containment by Friday evening amid scorching temperatures, low humidity and high winds.

Fire officials warned that the blaze would probably burn deeper into urban areas before there was any hope of containing it.

The fire has destroyed 500 homes, Cal Fire said, while nearly 5,000 other buildings remain threatened.

The fire is "taking down everything in its path," said Scott McLean, a CalFire spokesman for the crews battling the blaze.

More than 7,000 firefighters from several California counties and around 800 National Guard soldiers were on the scene Friday, officials said.

A day earlier, the flames turned the sky orange while sweeping through the historic Gold Rush town of Shasta and nearby Keswick, then jumping the Sacramento River into Redding, a city of about 92,000 people and the largest in the region.


Steve Hobson was one of the last to leave Lake Redding Drive. A former urban and wild land firefighter three decades ago, he planned to stay behind to save his house. But the heat burned his skin, and the smoke made it hard to breathe. He could feel the fire sucking the air from the around him, whipping up swirling embers in a "fire tornado," he said.

Police pounded on doors telling everyone to leave.

The flames on the distant hillside looked like solar flares on the sun, he said. When it came time to flee, he had to punch through walls of burning embers on both sides of the street. A tree fell right in front of him.

Animated CAL FIRE map below:
end quote from:
http://abc7.com/carr-fire-near-redding-2-killed-125-homes-destroyed/3832566/