The Carr Fire swept into Redding Thursday night, forcing residents to abandon their homes. Cal Fire reports 65 structures destroyed and 55 damaged, with nearly 500 more in danger.Strong winds pushed the fire into the city from the west, and it jumped the Sacramento River north of downtown. Twitter posts showed a chaotic situation, with huge flames bearing down on residential areas, roads clogged with people evacuating, and power outages. The lights went out at the Record-Searchlight newspaper, and several radio stations went off the air.
Shasta College is the current emergency shelter. Shasta High School had been the shelter, but the school had to be evacuated along with nearby homes. (Evacuation info here.)
The extent of destruction will not be known until daylight at the earliest. The fire is out of control, just a day after fire crews reported 24% containment. It grew quickly through the night Wednesday, burning down to Whiskeytown Lake and even burning boats docked at a marina.
The Carr Fire started Monday near the Carr Powerhouse; Cal Fire places the blame on a "mechanical failure of vehicle." Its rapid spread in its early hours forced the evacuation of French Gulch and the closing of California Highway 299. By Thursday afternoon, it had tripled in size from the previous day and turned toward Redding.
California Governor Jerry Brown had already declared a disaster area in Shasta County before noon on Thursday. Fire crews from other parts of California headed toward Redding through the day, but by sundown the fire was moving faster than any fire crews were capable of stopping.
Cal Fire reported the death of a bulldozer operator working to fight the fire, but did not release a name. Later in the morning, the Redding Fire Department announced that one of its firefighters also died.
Morning figures on Friday showed the fire covered 44,450 acres, with 3% containment. Redding weather will be hot and dry again, with a high temperature forecast of 109.
