The fire tornado spawned by the devastating Carr Fire in California last month killed a firefighter as he was trying to evacuate residents, according to a report released Wednesday.

The 18-page report from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention obtained by FOX40 said the fire tornado on July 26 had wind speeds between 136 and 165 mph, equal to that of an EF-3 tornado, and was estimated to be 1,000 feet in diameter at its base.

The fire tornado, inside of which temperatures peaked at 2,700 degrees, left a trail of damaged trees, rooftops, power line towers, cars and a steel shipping container.

“The swirling winds at the base of the plume dramatically increased fire intensity. The rotating plume continued to intensify until it developed into a fire tornado,” Cal Fire noted in the report. “Winds dramatically increased near the fire tornado, and embers were lofted in many directions. The fire front exhibited erratic and rapid growth during this period.”

‘FIRE TORNADO’ REACHED 143 MPH AS IT CAUSED PATH OF DESTRUCTION IN SCORCHED CALIFORNIA

The report also noted Jeremy Stoke, a fire prevention inspector with the Redding Fire Department, was killed when he drove into the path of the fire tornado around 7:30 p.m. Stoke radioed out a Mayday and said he needed a water drop in the area before he became unreachable.

The agency released videos of the massive tornado tearing through Redding as fires raged nearby.

Earlier this month, the National Weather Service and Cal Fire’s Serious Accident Review team said the rotating column of fire, induced by intense rising heat and turbulent winds, caused power line towers to collapse, uprooted several trees and removed tree bark.

At least eight people have died in the Carr Fire, including three firefighters. More than 1,000 homes have been destroyed by the blaze, which reached 214,527 acres as of Thursday and is 71 percent contained.</s>The setting sun obscured by smoke from t the Carr Fire in Redding, Calif., July 31, 2018. The fire has killed at least six people and displaced tens of thousands thus far. (Jim Wilson/The New York Times)

Signs of encouragement for first responders is hung on a city in Redding, Calif., July 31, 2018. A wildfire, named the Carr fire, has killed at least six people and displaced tens of thousands thus far around Redding. (Jim Wilson/The New York Times) less

Signs of encouragement for first responders is hung on a city in Redding, Calif., July 31, 2018. A wildfire, named the Carr fire, has killed at least six people and displaced tens of thousands thus far around ... more

Firefighters try to control a back burn as the Carr fire continues to spread towards the towns of Douglas City and Lewiston near Redding, California on July 31, 2018. Two firefighters were killed fighting the blaze and three people, a 70 year old woman and her two great-grandchildren age four and five, perished when their Redding home was rapidly swallowed up by flames. / AFP PHOTO / Mark RALSTONMARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images less

Firefighters try to control a back burn as the Carr fire continues to spread towards the towns of Douglas City and Lewiston near Redding, California on July 31, 2018. Two firefighters were killed fighting the ... more

Firefighters gather as the procession for Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke passes in Redding, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018. Stoke, who died last week in the Carr Fire, was being taken from the coroner's office to a funeral home. Fire officials say a massive blaze in Northern California that has killed six people and torched more than 1,000 homes grew overnight, fueled by wind. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Thursday firefighters made some gains and the blaze is now a third contained. (AP Photo/Michael Burke) less

Firefighters gather as the procession for Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke passes in Redding, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018. Stoke, who died last week in the Carr Fire, was being taken from the coroner's ... more

People visit a memorial for Jeremy Stoke of the Redding Fire Department near where he was killed in the Carr Fire, Saturday, Aug. 11, 2018, in Redding, Calif. (AP Photo/John Locher)

This Thursday, June 26, 2018, photo released by Casey Lansdon shows Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke in Redding, Calif. A wildfire roared with little warning into the Northern California city as thousands of people scrambled to escape before the walls of flames descended from forested hills onto their neighborhoods, officials said Friday. Stoke was killed in the blaze. (Casey Lansdon via AP) less

This Thursday, June 26, 2018, photo released by Casey Lansdon shows Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke in Redding, Calif. A wildfire roared with little warning into the Northern California city as thousands of ... more

From left, Shasta County Health and Human Services workers Mike Rinehart, Jon Taylor, Melanie Gilchrist and Theresa Ellis stand and watch as the procession for Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke passes in Redding, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018. Stoke, who died last week in the Carr Fire, was being taken from the coroner's office to a funeral home. Fire officials say a massive blaze in Northern California that has killed six people and torched more than 1,000 homes grew overnight, fueled by wind. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Thursday firefighters made some gains and the blaze is now a third contained. (AP Photo/Michael Burke) less

From left, Shasta County Health and Human Services workers Mike Rinehart, Jon Taylor, Melanie Gilchrist and Theresa Ellis stand and watch as the procession for Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke passes in ... more

Shasta County Health and Human Services workers and others stand and watch as the procession for Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke passes in Redding, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018. Stoke, who died last week in the Carr Fire, was being taken from the coroner's office to a funeral home. Fire officials say a massive blaze in Northern California that has killed six people and torched more than 1,000 homes grew overnight, fueled by wind. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Thursday firefighters made some gains and the blaze is now a third contained. (AP Photo/Michael Burke) less

Shasta County Health and Human Services workers and others stand and watch as the procession for Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke passes in Redding, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 2, 2018. Stoke, who died last week ... more

Gary Parmely, father of Jeremy Stoke of the Redding Fire Department, visits a memorial for his son who was killed in the Carr Fire.

Death came in an instant. And as never seen before in California history.

The Redding firefighter who died on July 26 as the fast-growing Carr Fire hit its apex was in fact killed by a fire tornado, the most intense tornado ever in the state, according to a report The Chronicle obtained Wednesday.

The monster tornado with a base the size of three football fields and winds up to 165 miles an hour swept down upon Jeremiah “Jeremy” Stoke in mere seconds, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection report.

At 7:39 p.m. the longtime Redding Fire Department veteran was driving his Ford F-150 truck down Buenaventura Road in northwest Redding, working on evacuating residents. One minute later he radioed out a “mayday” call saying he was getting burned over, and then his transmissions abruptly stopped, according to Cal Fire’s Green Sheet, the agency’s report on serious injuries and accidents.

Fire dispatchers desperately tried to find him by “pinging” his cell phone. One Cal Fire supervisor, leading evacuees as he went, drove north on Buenaventura toward where Stoke, a 37-year-old fire inspector, had been headed. There was no sign of him.

The blazes all around continued so savagely that his body wasn’t located until early the next morning by Redding fire crews. He was among six firefighters killed this year as they fought or responded to California’s historic wildfires. That’s made this the most lethal season for fire crews since 2008.

Meanwhile, the tornado was so ferocious it pulsed with 2,700 degrees of heat. It ripped roofs off houses and flung cars, power line towers and a steel shipping container into the air — all within a half-mile of the spot where Stoke was believed to have been trapped, according to the report. The phenomenon, exploding in the middle of what was already a gigantic, devastating wildfire, was so unusual even Cal Fire investigators are still struggling to understand it.

“Observations from witnesses and other evidence suggest that either several fire tornadoes occurred at different locations and times, or one fire tornado formed and then periodically weakened and strengthened causing several separate damage areas,” the report said.

Regardless of those specifics, the sight alone of the tornado that overwhelmed Stoke was awful. Several videos included in the Green Sheet show a terrifying, huge funnel dwarfing houses and fields as it shoves its swirling, flame-filled clouds high into the air. One video shows a tornado skipping along the water’s surface at Keswick Dam.

Stoke was well familiar with the dangers of out-of-control wildfires. But this tornado, the report and experts say, was unlike anything experienced before in California — quick, hot, huge and unpredictable.

UC Berkeley forensics Professor George Sensabaugh told The Chronicle that given the ruthlessness of the tornado, there was probably little Stoke could have done to save himself.

“I haven’t heard of anything quite like that,” he said, adding that some aspects of the tornado remind him of the historic bombing in World War II that destroyed the German city of Dresden. “I can’t imagine that he would have had a chance with no real advance warning.”

The report says that a Cal Fire captain noticed the twister near Buenaventura, looking north from Land Park, at 7:38 p.m. One minute later was when Stoke was driving along that road, and at 7:40 p.m. was when his “mayday” call went out.

“It’s pretty chilling when you look at the narrative,” said Jonathan Cox, a Cal Fire battalion chief who has read the report. “How quickly this tornado went from being dangerous to being just extreme and overwhelming was astounding. It’s something we’ve never seen before.”

At the time Stoke died, the Carr Fire had already burned 29,000 acres, dozens of homes and sent thousands of people fleeing for their lives. As of Wednesday evening, the blaze had destroyed 1,077 homes and charred 214,527 acres. It was 69 percent contained.

The Green Sheet also details the death that same evening of 81-year-old contract bulldozer operator Don Ray Smith of Pollock Pines (El Dorado County), and the harrowing escapes of fire crews and other dozer operators in the area where Stoke died.

Smith was helping cut a fire line near Spring Creek Reservoir at around 5:45 p.m. when flames surrounded him, according to the report. He radioed back that he couldn’t make it back to where he’d departed “because he was cut off by the fire, and he would push down instead,” the report said, and between 5:46 and 5:50 p.m. he requested water drops from firefighting aircraft and said he was “attempting to make a safety zone.”

Four Cal Fire helicopters began dumping water at 5:50 p.m. through heavy smoke into the location where they thought Smith was. The blaze was too intense to send in ground crews right away, the report said, and at 6:10 p.m. crew leaders told their division supervisor that Smith had been burned over.

The flames backed off enough by 7 p.m. for a crew to head down the fire line and confirm that Smith was dead.

The report does not assess blame, but it does offer cautions for the future — such as fleeing fire tornadoes upon sight.

Cox said the advice is wise, and the grief over the death of colleagues is nearly unfathomable. The probability of the future is that things will remain grim.

“It’s the trend we have now — larger, more damaging fires, and more and more of them,” he said. “The conditions are unrelenting.”</s>A rare “fire tornado” that barreled into Redding during the destructive Carr fire was responsible for killing a firefighter as he raced toward a neighborhood in flames, an investigation has found.

The twister may have been California’s strongest on record. It was roughly 1,000 feet in diameter and reached speeds of 136-165 mph, equivalent to a twister with a rating of EF-3 on the five-level Enhanced Fujita scale, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said.

Not only is it believed to be responsible for the death of Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke, but the twister was also in the general area where Melody Bledsoe, 70, and her great-grandchildren, 5-year-old James Roberts and 4-year-old Emily Roberts, died in the blaze.

Ed Bledsoe holds a photo of his deceased wife Melody Bledsoe, taken when she was in her 50s. Melody Bledsoe, 70, and great-grandchildren, Emily Roberts, 5, and James Roberts, 4, were killed when their Redding home burned in the Carr fire. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

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Stoke died after he became trapped in the fire tornado as he was heading south on Buenaventura Boulevard — the only path of escape for residents of the Redding neighborhoods of Land Park and Stanford Hills, which burned. Stoke had been heading to Land Park.

The tornado was highly unpredictable, resulting in fire behavior that surprised many highly experienced firefighters, the report said. Stoke was killed on the evening of July 26, when the fire suddenly transformed from a fuel-dominated fire to one that was driven and spread in part by wind generated from the fire itself.

(Los Angeles Times)

Cal Fire also released dramatic video showing the tornado from a couple of perspectives. In a video shot from a helicopter, the immense twister can be seen glowing orange as gray smoke twists counterclockwise, surrounded by flames all around the vortex. In another video shot from a fire engine in Stanford Hills, a giant spinning vortex can be seen in the background.

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The tornado was very destructive, causing wind damage to large oak trees, scouring the ground, damaging roofs and throwing high up into the air large steel power-line towers, vehicles and a steel shipping container, the Cal Fire report said. Peak temperatures in the tornado probably exceeded 2,700 degrees, and the strong winds caused the fire to burn all but the smallest vegetation, officials said.

The report said that, based on witness observations and other evidence, there were either several fire tornadoes that occurred in different locations and at different times, or one fire twister that formed, waned and waxed, resulting in several separate areas of damage.

Ed Bledsoe surveys his home and belongings destroyed by the Carr in Redding. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times)

Stoke was racing to Land Park as the rapidly moving blaze approached the Sacramento River from the west and threatened the neighborhoods east of the river.

By 6:38 p.m., firefighters ordered the evacuation of Buenaventura Boulevard. Five minutes later, firefighters determined that the fire was going to cross the river, and by 6:59 they observed smoke just northwest of Land Park.

A spot fire was seen west of Buenaventura Boulevard by firefighters at 7:17, and numerous other spot blazes were detected east of the Sacramento River. Minutes later, firefighters sought to evacuate residents and prepared to defend homes. It was around 7:23 that they began to see a large rotating plume of smoke just north of Land Park near Buenaventura Boulevard.

“The swirling winds at the base of the plume dramatically increased fire intensity. The rotating plume continued to intensify until it developed into a fire tornado,” the report said. “Winds dramatically increased near the fire tornado, and embers were lofted in many directions.”

At around 7:35, Stoke was dispatched from a fire station to Land Park just as the blaze reached the area. Three minutes later, a fire captain saw a fire tornado near Buenaventura Boulevard north of Land Park.

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Stoke was last heard at 7:40 radioing a mayday, calling out for a water drop, and said he was getting burned over, the report said. He said he was in the middle of a road. Another firefighter called out to get Stoke’s location. There was no response.

The report also described the circumstances of the death of Don Ray Smith, 81, a bulldozer operator who was killed while battling the fire. Smith had been traveling downhill while trying to improve a pathway toward Spring Creek Reservoir that had been dozed over as a firebreak when he was overcome by flames.

A Cal Fire hand-crew strike team leader who assigned Smith to improve that pathway was unaware that a different dozer earlier that morning had abandoned that pathway because the area was too steep and overgrown with vegetation, and that the firebreak would be left incomplete because it was not viable.

Smith proceeded to improve the firebreak after meeting with the team leader around 5:30 p.m. But soon after, the fire had begun to increase in intensity, and winds were gaining strength from the northwest.

As Smith traveled down the existing dozer line downhill toward the reservoir, firefighters saw the blaze intensify. By 5:44, the fire jumped the dozer line. The team leader radioed to Smith several times to tell him to “get out of there,” the report said.

Two firefighters near the top of the dozer line tried to chase down the tractor, but couldn’t make it through as the flames strengthened. Finally, Smith responded back to the team leader by radio, saying “he could not get out because he was cut off by the fire, and he would push down instead.” He was heard around 5:50 p.m. asking for a water drop and saying he was trying to make a safety zone. That was his last message.

Smith’s fire shelter was found behind his seat, and his fire curtains were not deployed.

As of Thursday, the Carr fire had burned more than 214,000 acres and was 71% contained. The blaze has destroyed more than 1,000 residences and has been blamed for eight deaths. Besides Stoke, Smith, Bledsoe and her two great-grandchildren, another Redding resident, a Pacific Gas & Electric utility worker and a Cal Fire mechanic have also died in connection with the blaze.

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joseph.serna@latimes.com | @JosephSerna

ron.lin@latimes.com | @ronlin

UPDATES:

6:15 p.m.: This article was updated with more details on the circumstances of Smith’s death.

This article was originally published at 2:40 p.m.</s>The fire tornado spawned by the devastating Carr Fire in California last month killed a firefighter as he was trying to evacuate residents, according to a report released Wednesday.

The 18-page report from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention obtained by FOX40 said the fire tornado on July 26 had wind speeds between 136 and 165 mph, equal to that of an EF-3 tornado, and was estimated to be 1,000 feet in diameter at its base.

The fire tornado, inside of which temperatures peaked at 2,700 degrees, left a trail of damaged trees, rooftops, power line towers, cars and a steel shipping container.

"The swirling winds at the base of the plume dramatically increased fire intensity. The rotating plume continued to intensify until it developed into a fire tornado," Cal Fire noted in the report. "Winds dramatically increased near the fire tornado, and embers were lofted in many directions. The fire front exhibited erratic and rapid growth during this period."

'FIRE TORNADO' REACHED 143 MPH AS IT CAUSED PATH OF DESTRUCTION IN SCORCHED CALIFORNIA

The report also noted Jeremy Stoke, a fire prevention inspector with the Redding Fire Department, was killed when he drove into the path of the fire tornado around 7:30 p.m. Stoke radioed out a Mayday and said he needed a water drop in the area before he became unreachable.

The agency released videos of the massive tornado tearing through Redding as fires raged nearby.

Earlier this month, the National Weather Service and Cal Fire’s Serious Accident Review team said the rotating column of fire, induced by intense rising heat and turbulent winds, caused power line towers to collapse, uprooted several trees and removed tree bark.

At least eight people have died in the Carr Fire, including three firefighters. More than 1,000 homes have been destroyed by the blaze, which reached 214,527 acres as of Thursday and is 71 percent contained.</s>In the history of California wildfires there has never been anything like it: A churning tornado filled with fire, the size of three football fields.

An official report describes in chilling detail the intensity of the rare fire phenomenon and how quickly it took the life of Redding firefighter Jeremy Stoke, who was enveloped in seconds as he tried to evacuate residents on July 26.

Three videos released with the report late Wednesday show the massive funnel of smoke and flames in a populated area on the edge of Redding, California, about 250 miles north of San Francisco.

The smoke-and-fire tornado was about 1,000 feet wide at its base and shot approximately 7.5 miles into the sky; it reached speeds of up to 165 mph with temperatures that likely exceeded 2,700 degrees, according to the report by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The tornado exploded in the middle of what was already a gigantic, devastating wildfire that started on July 23 with a spark from a vehicle driving on a flat tire. Stoke is one of eight people killed since the blaze started and destroyed nearly 1,100 homes. It was 76 percent contained as of Thursday.

A 17-year veteran of the fire department, Stoke was familiar with the dangers of wildfires. But this was unprecedented.

“There have been several documented instances of a fire whirl in California,” said Jonathan Cox, a Cal Fire battalion chief. “But this is the largest documented fire whirl — a fire-generated tornado — in California history.”

The 37-year-old fire inspector was driving his pickup truck down a Redding road, working on evacuating people from the larger blaze, when he radioed out a “mayday” call, according to the report.

Stoke said he “needed a water drop and was getting burned over,” the report said.

An engine captain who heard the call asked for Stoke’s location. There was no response.

Fire dispatchers tried to locate him by “pinging” his cellphone.

Stoke’s remains were not found until the next day, and it took more time to analyze the ferocity of the tornado that ripped roofs off houses and flung power line towers, cars and a shipping container into the air near the spot where Stoke was overtaken by the flames, according to the report.

A confluence of weather conditions likely contributed to the tornado, including a combination of record heat in the Sacramento Valley — it reached 113 degrees in Redding that day — and cool, high-speed winds coming from the coast, the report said.

“It was something out of this world, a perfect storm,” Gary Parmely, who was Stoke’s stepfather and raised him from the time he was a child, told the AP in a telephone interview Thursday. “It was incompatible with life, and he happened to drive into it.”

Parmely said he has driven out several times to the site where Stoke died. American flags, flowers and a framed picture of Stoke have been left in memoriam.

“The loss of Jeremy broke the heart of this community, not just his family,” Parmely said. Stoke leaves behind a wife and two children. Stoke was on vacation with his best friend in Idaho but cut the trip short, Parmely said.

“He came back early to help fight this fire.”

The report also detailed the death of private bulldozer operator Don Smith, 81, of Pollock Pines, who was killed when his bulldozer was caught in the flames while trying to improve a fire line, defending a home, during what the officials say were “extraordinary fire weather conditions.”

Both deaths occurred within an hour and 50 minutes in a one 3-mile stretch of the Carr Fire, which is one of several massive wildfires in California this year.

The Carr Fire jumped the fire line and a Cal Fire crew chief said he made several radio attempts to tell Smith to “get out of there.” Two firefighters in the area also “recognized the urgency of the situation” and tried to reach Smith on foot, but had to turn back because of the encroaching flames.

Smith reported that he was cut off by the fire and was pushing on in his 2002 John Deere open cab bulldozer in an attempt to reach a safe area. He also requested water drops and four helicopters began dropping water through the smoke and flames around Smith’s last known location.

Once the smoke cleared, a pilot saw that Smith’s dozer had been engulfed in flames and there was no sign of the protective metallic tent that firefighters deploy as a desperate measure when they are about to be overrun by fire. After two attempts, a fire captain was able to reach the bulldozer two hours later and confirmed that Smith was dead.</s>An unimagined, unprecedented, and profoundly horrifying fire tornado (or firenado) was determined to be the cause of death of a Redding firefighter who died on July 26 as the fast-growing Carr Fire hit its apex. Death came in an instant in the most intense tornado ever in the state, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday.

The monster tornado with a base the size of three football fields and winds up to 165 miles an hour swept down upon Jeremiah “Jeremy” Stoke in mere seconds, according to a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection report.

At 7:39 p.m. the longtime Redding Fire Department veteran was driving his Ford F-150 truck down Buenaventura Road in northwest Redding, working on evacuating residents. One minute later he radioed out a “mayday” call saying he was getting burned over, and then his transmissions abruptly stopped.

Fire dispatchers desperately tried to find him by “pinging” his cell phone. One Cal Fire supervisor, leading evacuees as he went, drove north on Buenaventura toward where Stoke, a 37-year-old fire inspector, had been headed. There was no sign of him.

Meanwhile, the tornado was so ferocious it pulsed with 2,700 degrees of heat. It ripped roofs off houses and flung cars, power line towers and a steel shipping container into the air — all within a half-mile of the spot where Stoke was believed to have been trapped, according to the report. The phenomenon, exploding in the middle of what was already a gigantic, devastating wildfire, was so unusual even Cal Fire investigators are still struggling to understand it.

Several videos show a terrifying, huge funnel dwarfing houses and fields as it shoves its swirling, flame-filled clouds high into the air. One video shows a tornado skipping along the water’s surface at Keswick Dam.

Stoke was well familiar with the dangers of out-of-control wildfires. But this tornado, the report and experts say, was unlike anything experienced before in California — quick, hot, huge and unpredictable.</s>REDDING, Calif. – A massive fire tornado spawned during the Carr Fire trapped and killed a firefighter while decimating a swath of Redding, California, on July 26, according to a new report detailing the horrific incident.

The fire whirl struck around 7:30 p.m., reaching speeds up to 165 mph -- the equivalent strength of an EF-3 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale, according to an 18-page Cal Fire report.

It was approximately 1,000 feet in diameter at its base; the interior temperature peaked in excess of 2,700 degrees.

“Depending on the final number, this might actually be the strongest ‘tornado’ in California history, even if it wasn’t formally a tornado,” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain told the Los Angeles Times earlier this month.

The tornado came as the Carr Fire towered over Redding, with a fire plume reaching some 40,000 feet in height, the report stated.

A survey of the area in the aftermath revealed a trail of damaged homes, trees, vehicles and a steel marine shipping container, according to Cal Fire. It also destroyed much of the live vegetation while consuming any dead biomass.

The fire tornado was captured in two separate videos released by Cal Fire: one was shotfrom a helicopter showing the massive inferno as it swirled over Lake Keswick Estates; the second was taken from a fire engine in the area of Buenaventura Boulevard and Sutro Mine Road, in the Stanford Hills Subdivision.

It began developing just before 7:30 p.m., when officials began noticing a "large rotating plume of smoke" north of Land Park near Buenaventura Boulevard, according to the report.

"The rotating plume continued to intensify until it developed into a fire tornado. Winds dramatically increased near the fire tornado, and embers were lofted in many directions," the report stated. "The fire front exhibited erratic and rapid growth during this period."

It was around this time that Jeremy Stoke, a Redding Fire Department fire inspector, was driving down Buenaventura Boulevard toward Land Park.

At 7:40 p.m., Stoke radioed a "Mayday" call, saying he "was getting burned over" and was in need of a water drop. He made a second "priority traffic" call, providing the same information, the report read.

But by the time someone responded to the call, wanting to know of Stoke's whereabouts, he was unresponsive.

Redding fire personnel found him dead early the following morning while searching an area east of Buenaventura.

Authorities determined Stoke "suffered fatal traumatic injuries" upon becoming entrapped in the fire whirl. He was working to protect the community at the time.

Stoke had returned to work earlier that day due to the fire, conducting welfare checks in the area of Salt Creek Heights, which is in the western part of Redding, according to the report.

He was one of eight people to die in the blaze.

Since erupting on July 23, the fire has charred about 334 square miles, destroyed more than 1,000 homes and damaged nearly 200 others. It was 71 percent contained as of Thursday morning.

Correction: An earlier version of this article, including the headline, described the tornado as 40,000 feet in height. In the Cal Fire report, that approximate measurement refers to a "large fire plume (that) developed over the area," not the tornado specifically. The story has been updated.</s>FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2018 file photo Gary Parmely, father of Jeremy Stoke of the Redding Fire Department, visits a memorial for his son, in Redding, Calif. Officials say Stoke the first firefighter to die battling a Northern California blaze was killed by a fire tornado. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says in a report that Redding firefighter Jeremy Stoke died July 26, 2018, after he was enveloped in seconds by a fire tornado with a base the size of three football fields and winds up to 165 miles an hour. less

FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2018 file photo Gary Parmely, father of Jeremy Stoke of the Redding Fire Department, visits a memorial for his son, in Redding, Calif. Officials say Stoke the first firefighter to die ... more

FILE - This Thursday, June 26, 2018, file photo released by Casey Lansdon shows Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke in Redding, Calif. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says in a report that Redding firefighter Stoke died after he was enveloped in seconds by a fire tornado with a base the size of three football fields and winds up to 165 mph. Stoke died July 26, while helping people to evacuate a Northern California blaze. (Casey Lansdon via AP, File) less

FILE - This Thursday, June 26, 2018, file photo released by Casey Lansdon shows Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke in Redding, Calif. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says in a report ... more

This Aug. 10, 2018 photo shows a memorial for Jeremy Stoke of the Redding Fire Department, in Redding, Calif. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says in a report that Redding firefighter Stoke, 37, died July 26, 2018, after he was enveloped in seconds by a fire tornado with a base the size of three football fields and winds up to 165 miles an hour. less

This Aug. 10, 2018 photo shows a memorial for Jeremy Stoke of the Redding Fire Department, in Redding, Calif. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says in a report that Redding firefighter ... more

FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2018, file photo, a photo of Redding Fire Department firefighter Jeremy Stoke, who was killed in the Carr Fire, is shown at a makeshift, roadside memorial in Redding, Calif. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says in a report that Redding firefighter Stoke died July 26, 2018, after he was enveloped in seconds by a fire tornado with a base the size of three football fields and winds up to 165 miles an hour. less

FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2018, file photo, a photo of Redding Fire Department firefighter Jeremy Stoke, who was killed in the Carr Fire, is shown at a makeshift, roadside memorial in Redding, Calif. The ... more

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A firefighter who died while helping people evacuate a Northern California blaze was killed by a fire tornado that at one point reached a temperature of 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit (1,480 degrees Celsius), officials said.

Redding firefighter Jeremy Stoke died after he was enveloped in seconds by a fire tornado with a diameter of 1,000 feet (300 meters) and winds up to 165 mph (265 kph), the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said in a report released Wednesday detailing his death and the death of a bulldozer operator.

Videos released with the report show the massive blaze burning in a populated area and sending a cloud of thick smoke up into the air with flames swirling up into the sky.

The tornado ripped roofs off houses and flung power line towers, cars and a shipping container into the air near the spot where Stoke was overtaken by the flames, according to the report.

Cal Fire officials said that on July 26, the 37-year-old fire inspector was driving his pickup truck down a Redding road, working on evacuating people. One minute later he radioed out a "mayday" call saying he was getting burned and needed help.

Stoke "identified himself by his radio call sign, and stated that he needed a water drop and was getting burned over," the report said.

When an engine captain tried to contact him shortly after, there was no response, it said.

"Observations from witnesses and other evidence suggest that either several fire tornadoes occurred at different locations and times, or one fire tornado formed and then periodically weakened and strengthened causing several separate damage areas," the report said.

Stoke, whose remains were found the following day, was one of eight people killed since the blaze started on July 23 with a spark from a vehicle driving on a flat tire.

The wildfire has destroyed nearly 1,100 homes. It was 71 percent contained as of Thursday.

The report also detailed the death of private bulldozer operator Don Smith, 81, of Pollock Pines, who was killed when his bulldozer was caught in the flames while trying to improve a fire line, defending a home during what the officials say were "extraordinary fire weather conditions."

Both deaths and the injuries occurred within an hour and 50 minutes in one 3-mile (5-kilometer) stretch.

Smith was trying to improve a previously constructed a fire line near the Buckeye Water Treatment Plant outside Redding after 5 p.m. on July 26 when other firefighters noticed "a rapid increase in fire activity."

It jumped the fire line and a Cal Fire crew chief said he made several radio attempts to tell Smith to "get out of there." Two firefighters in the area also "recognized the urgency of the situation" and tried to reach Smith on foot but had to turn back because of the encroaching flames.

Smith reported that he was cut off by the fire and was pushing on in his 2002 John Deere open cab bulldozer in an attempt to reach a safe area. He also requested water drops and four helicopters began dropping water through the smoke and flames around Smith's last known location.

Once the smoke cleared, a pilot saw that Smith's dozer had been engulfed in flames and there was no sign of the protective metallic tent that firefighters deploy as a desperate measure when they are about to be overrun by fire. After two attempts, a fire captain was able to reach the bulldozer two hours later and confirmed that Smith was dead.</s>FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2018 file photo Gary Parmely, father of Jeremy Stoke of the Redding Fire Department, visits a memorial for his son, in Redding, Calif. Officials say Stoke the first firefighter to die battling a Northern California blaze was killed by a fire tornado. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says in a report that Redding firefighter Jeremy Stoke died July 26, 2018, after he was enveloped in seconds by a fire tornado with a base the size of three football fields and winds up to 165 miles an hour. less

FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2018 file photo Gary Parmely, father of Jeremy Stoke of the Redding Fire Department, visits a memorial for his son, in Redding, Calif. Officials say Stoke the first firefighter to die ... more

FILE - This Thursday, June 26, 2018, file photo released by Casey Lansdon shows Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke in Redding, Calif. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says in a report that Redding firefighter Stoke died after he was enveloped in seconds by a fire tornado with a base the size of three football fields and winds up to 165 mph. Stoke died July 26, while helping people to evacuate a Northern California blaze. (Casey Lansdon via AP, File) less

FILE - This Thursday, June 26, 2018, file photo released by Casey Lansdon shows Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke in Redding, Calif. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says in a report ... more

FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2018, file photo, a photo of Redding Fire Department firefighter Jeremy Stoke, who was killed in the Carr Fire, is shown at a makeshift, roadside memorial in Redding, Calif. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says in a report that Redding firefighter Stoke died July 26, 2018, after he was enveloped in seconds by a fire tornado with a base the size of three football fields and winds up to 165 miles an hour. less

FILE - In this Aug. 11, 2018, file photo, a photo of Redding Fire Department firefighter Jeremy Stoke, who was killed in the Carr Fire, is shown at a makeshift, roadside memorial in Redding, Calif. The ... more

This Aug. 10, 2018 photo shows a memorial for Jeremy Stoke of the Redding Fire Department, in Redding, Calif. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says in a report that Redding firefighter Stoke, 37, died July 26, 2018, after he was enveloped in seconds by a fire tornado with a base the size of three football fields and winds up to 165 miles an hour. less

This Aug. 10, 2018 photo shows a memorial for Jeremy Stoke of the Redding Fire Department, in Redding, Calif. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says in a report that Redding firefighter ... more

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — In the history of California wildfires there has never been anything like it: A churning tornado filled with fire, the size of three football fields.

An official report describes in chilling detail the intensity of the rare fire phenomenon and how quickly it took the life of Redding firefighter Jeremy Stoke, who was enveloped in seconds as he tried to evacuate residents on July 26.

Three videos released with the report late Wednesday show the massive funnel of smoke and flames in a populated area on the edge of Redding, about 250 miles (400 kilometers) north of San Francisco.

The smoke-and-fire tornado was about 1,000 feet (300 meters) wide at its base and shot approximately 7.5 miles (12 kilometers) into the sky; it reached speeds of up to 165 mph (265 kph), with temperatures that likely exceeded 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit (1,480 degrees Celsius), said the report by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The tornado exploded in the middle of what was already a gigantic, devastating wildfire that started on July 23 with a spark from a vehicle driving on a flat tire. Stoke is one of eight people killed since the blaze started and destroyed nearly 1,100 homes. It was 76 percent contained as of Thursday.

A 17-year veteran of the fire department, Stoke was familiar with the dangers of wildfires. But this was unprecedented.

"There have been several documented instances of a fire whirl in California," said Jonathan Cox, a Cal Fire battalion chief. "But this is the largest documented fire whirl — a fire-generated tornado — in California history."

The 37-year-old fire inspector was driving his pickup truck down a Redding road, working on evacuating people from the larger blaze, when he radioed out a "mayday" call, according to the report.

Stoke said he "needed a water drop and was getting burned over," the report said.

An engine captain who heard the call asked for Stoke's location. There was no response.

Fire dispatchers tried to locate him by 'pinging' his cellphone.

Stoke's remains were not found until the next day, and it took more time to analyze the ferocity of the tornado that ripped roofs off houses and flung power line towers, cars and a shipping container into the air near the spot where Stoke was overtaken by the flames, according to the report.

A confluence of weather conditions likely contributed to the tornado, including a combination of record heat in the Sacramento Valley — it reached 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius) in Redding that day — and cool high-speed winds coming from the coast, the report said.

"It was something out of this world, a perfect storm," Gary Parmely, who was Stoke's stepfather and raised him from the time he was a child, told the AP in a telephone interview Thursday. "It was incompatible with life, and he happened to drive into it."

Parmely said he has driven out several times to the site where Stoke died. American flags, flowers and a framed picture of Stoke have been left in memoriam.

"The loss of Jeremy broke the heart of this community, not just his family," Parmely said. Stoke leaves behind a wife and two children. Stoke was on vacation with his best friend in Idaho but cut the trip short, Parmely said.

"He came back early to help fight this fire."

The report also detailed the death of private bulldozer operator Don Smith, 81, of Pollock Pines, who was killed when his bulldozer was caught in the flames while trying to improve a fire line, defending a home, during what the officials say were "extraordinary fire weather conditions."

Both deaths occurred within an hour and 50 minutes in one 3-mile (5-kilometer) stretch of the Carr Fire, which is one of several massive wildfires in California this year.

The Carr Fire jumped the fire line and a Cal Fire crew chief said he made several radio attempts to tell Smith to "get out of there." Two firefighters in the area also "recognized the urgency of the situation" and tried to reach Smith on foot, but had to turn back because of the encroaching flames.

Smith reported that he was cut off by the fire and was pushing on in his 2002 John Deere open cab bulldozer in an attempt to reach a safe area. He also requested water drops and four helicopters began dropping water through the smoke and flames around Smith's last known location.

Once the smoke cleared, a pilot saw that Smith's dozer had been engulfed in flames and there was no sign of the protective metallic tent that firefighters deploy as a desperate measure when they are about to be overrun by fire. After two attempts, a fire captain was able to reach the bulldozer two hours later and confirmed that Smith was dead.

Associated Press writer Don Thompson in Sacramento, California, contributed to this report.</s>REDDING (AP) — Officials say a firefighter who died helping people evacuate a Northern California blaze was killed by a fire tornado that at one point reached a temperature of 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit (1,480 centigrade).

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says in a report that Redding firefighter Jeremy Stoke died after he was enveloped in seconds by a fire tornado with a base the size of three football fields and winds up to 165 miles an hour.

The report obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle says that on July 26 the 37-year-old fire inspector was driving his pickup truck down a Redding road, working on evacuating people. One minute later he radioed out a “mayday” call saying he was getting burned over, and then his transmissions abruptly stopped.

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Analysis shows that a rare fire tornado that barreled into the city of Redding on July 26 during the Carr Fire was responsible for the death of a firefighter as he raced towards a neighborhood in flames.