REDDING, Calif. — When Brian Rice fought wildfires in the 1990s, his time on the line was intense during the summer fire season, followed by months to recharge during the cooler winter. But fighting wildfires is no longer seasonal work in California.

“There used to be a rhythm to this, and you could at least count on that rhythm,” he said. “It’s a year-round cycle now.”

Since 2012, according to state emergency management officials, there has not been a month without a wildfire burning — a stark contrast to previous decades, when fire officials saw the fall and winter as a time to plan and regroup. The recent historic drought and rising temperatures have heightened an already serious risk for widespread fires in the state.

Just this month, there have been three firefighters killed on the front lines, including two who died during a rapidly expanding wildfire in Northern California in the last two days. Dry conditions and triple-digit temperatures added fuel to that fast-moving blaze, known as the Carr Fire, as it marched eastward, swept over the Sacramento River and pushed into the outskirts of Redding, the largest city in the region. It continued to grow on Friday, burning dozens of buildings and prompting emergency officials to issue an urgent plea for people in parts of Redding and the surrounding areas to evacuate immediately.</s>Smoke and flames are seen as a wildfire spreads through Redding, California, the U.S., July 26, 2018, in this still image taken from a video obtained from social media. Cody Markhart/via REUTERS

(Reuters) - One person was killed in a raging, out-of-control wildfire that sent residents racing to flee a northern California city on Friday as flames burned homes and businesses and knocked out power, fire officials said.

A bulldozer operator was killed in the so-called Carr Fire, a blaze in Shasta County, which has tripled in size in the last two days to 28,000 acres (11,300 hectares), the state's forestry and fire protection department said.

The blaze has crossed the Sacramento River and now threatens hundreds of homes on the western fringes of the city of Redding, the Sacramento Bee said.

"The fire is moving so fast that law enforcement is doing evacuations as fast as we can. There have been some injuries to civilians and firefighters," California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Scott McLean told the newspaper.

"It’s way too dynamic and burning quickly."

Local and state fire officials were not available to confirm details of injuries.

Roads out of the city of 90,000 people were jammed with motorists trying to escape the flames, social media postings showed.

Multiple power outages were reported, the city said on its website, adding that the electric utility was shutting off power in its northern areas.</s>REDDING, Calif. — The Latest on wildfires burning in California (all times local):

Family members say three people missing in a Northern California wildfire have been confirmed dead.

Sherry Bledsoe said Saturday that her two children and her grandmother died in the fire near Redding.

The fatalities bring the death toll to five since the massive blaze started burning Monday about 100 miles (161 kilometers) south of the Oregon border.

The dead were identified as 70-year-old Melody Bledsoe and her great-grandchildren, 5-year-old James Roberts and 4-year-old Emily Roberts.

Family members had been desperately looking for them since flames leveled the home where they were stranded on Thursday.

Bledsoe’s husband was out getting supplies at the store when the boy called him and said he needed to get home because the fire was approaching.

Police in a Northern California city say they have been unable to locate 14 people, including a 70-year-old woman and her young great-grandchildren, amid a raging wildfire.

Redding Police Sgt. Todd Cogle said he expects most of the 14 to be safe since their homes survived the Shasta County wildfire. He says some may be having communication issues.

Cogle said he could not comment on Melody Bledsoe and 5-year-old James Roberts and 4-year-old Emily Roberts, who remain missing. He said the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.

Police have surrounded the Bledsoe property with crime scene tape.

An investigator Saturday wouldn’t say if any remains had been found.

The wildfire that started Monday has displaced at least 37,000 people.

A shelter for people displaced by a massive blaze in Northern California has reached full capacity as fire authorities order more evacuations.

Peter Griggs, a spokesman for Shasta College in Redding, says the evacuation center at the school reached maximum capacity Saturday and is housing 500 people.

The college’s gymnasium is filled with cots and American Red Cross volunteers are providing food, water and medical and mental health services.

California fire officials say more mandatory evacuations were ordered Saturday afternoon for communities south of Redding and three other shelters are still taking evacuees.

The raging fire that started Monday has displaced at least 37,000 people.

Police have surrounded a burned-out property with crime scene tape where two children and their great-grandmother are unaccounted for after a Northern California wildfire destroyed their home.

An investigator Saturday wouldn’t say if any remains had been found, but police closed off the road to the house. Family members have been desperately seeking 70-year-old Melody Bledsoe and two of her great-grandchildren who lived with her at the Quartz Hill Road home in Redding.

Jason Decker, a boyfriend of a relative, says that Bledsoe’s husband, Ed, was at the store Thursday when his 5-year-old grandson, James Roberts, called to say he needed to come right home because the fire was close.

Decker says that when Ed Bledsoe tried to drive home, police wouldn’t let him through a roadblock because the fire was raging.

Decker says Melody, the boy and his 4-year-old sister, Emily Roberts, are all missing.

President Donald Trump has issued an emergency declaration for California allowing counties affected by wildfires to receive federal assistance.

A White House statement issued Saturday says the declaration allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide necessary equipment and resources.

The declaration highlights a massive wildfire in Northern California that nearly doubled overnight.

California fire officials say more than 10,000 firefighters are working to stop the progress of 14 large wildfires across the state.

They say the blazes have killed three firefighters and destroyed more than 500 structures.

Two blazes burning 30 miles (50 kilometers) apart are threatening dozens of buildings and have prompted mandatory evacuations in Northern California’s Mendocino County.

The blazes that began Friday are burning about 120 miles (200 kilometers) southwest of Redding, California, which is near a massive wildfire that as thousands of under evacuation orders.

The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office says mandatory evacuations are in place for people living an area north of Highway 175 near Hopland, California.

Officials in neighboring Lake County say residents of Benmore Valley were ordered to evacuate Saturday morning.

They say the blazes are threatening more than 350 buildings.

This item has been corrected to show blaze is burning near Hopland, not Ukiah, California.

Officials say a deadly blaze in Northern California almost doubled in size overnight, but is moving away from populated areas.

Chris Anthony, deputy chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said Saturday the so-called Carr Fire burning in Shasta County has scorched 125 square miles (320 square kilometers). It is 5 percent contained.

Anthony says winds are fueling the fire but also pushing it away from Redding, a city of 90,000, and other populated areas. Thousands of people remain under evacuation orders, including the small towns of Ono and Igo.

The explosive wildfire in Northern California has killed two firefighters and destroyed 500 buildings. Another 5,000 buildings remain under threat.

A wildfire in far northern California has destroyed at least 500 structures and remains mostly uncontained. The air chokes with the smell of smoke and chemicals. The smoldering remains are still too hot to sift through. And the weather report promises more hot dry conditions, bad news for firefighters working the so-called Carr Fire.

The wildfire has wiped out the small community of Keswick, swept through the historic Gold Rush town of Shasta and hit homes in Redding. Nearly 5,000 more homes are threatened, and about 37,000 people remain under evacuation orders.

Two firefighters were killed as the flames roared through. Other large fires are burning outside Yosemite National Park and in the San Jacinto Mountains. The National Interagency Fire Center is tracking 89 active large fires in 14 states.</s>REDDING, Calif. (AP) — The Latest on California's wildfires (all times local):

A fire official says an explosive wildfire in Northern California has killed a bulldozer operator as he fought to contain the blaze and injured three firefighters.

Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean says the Carr Fire in Shasta County burned over the bulldozer operator, who was hired privately, and his equipment. He says the man's body was found late Thursday.

McLean says three firefighters and an unknown number of civilians have burns but didn't know the extent.

He says the fire is "taking everything down in its path."

The blaze has burned dozens of homes in the communities of Shasta, Keswick and the west side of Redding, a city of about 92,000 people.

McLean says the situation is chaotic as Redding residents who had little warning try to evacuate.

An explosive wildfire in Northern California has burned dozens of homes, injured firefighters and civilians, and reached the city of Redding.

Scott McLean, a spokesman for the crews battling the Carr Fire, says the blaze is "taking everything down in its path."

He says the fire has burned dozens of homes in the communities of Shasta, Keswick and the west side of Redding, a city of about 92,000 people.

McLean says the situation is "very dynamic" and that it's "a heck of a fight."

He says an unknown number of firefighters and civilians have burns but couldn't elaborate. No deaths have been reported.

The 45-square-mile (115-square-kilometer) fire that began Monday tripled in size overnight Thursday amid scorching temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions.

California authorities say a wildfire ripping through Shasta County in the north has grown Thursday after tripling in size overnight.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials say the fire that started in the Whiskeytown community is 45 square miles (115 square kilometers).

Officials say the fire is about 10 percent contained.

Whiskeytown was once a vibrant and bustling mining town.

A state parks official says employees worked through the night to save historic artifacts from a Northern California Gold Rush-era museum threatened by wildfire.

Acting District Superintendent Matt Teague says he helped clear out keepsakes early Thursday from the old courthouse in Shasta State Historic Park.

Teague says staff and volunteers were mindful of the brightening glow of the fire burning nearby in the hills above Redding.

Teague says they almost had to abandon rescue efforts just before dawn. But the fire changed direction and they were able to work another five hours to save valuable paintings and prints.

The museum in the restored 1861 courthouse is the centerpiece of the park that features remains and relics from Shasta City's days as "Queen City" of Northern California mining.

California Gov. Jerry Brown has declared states of emergency in Riverside and Shasta counties as fires burn on both ends of the state.

The declarations issued Thursday state that hot temperatures, erratic wind and low humidity have increased the spread of both fires.

A wildfire in rural Shasta County in Northern California tripled in size overnight, and more evacuations have been ordered.

In Southern California, thousands remained evacuated as a suspected arson wildfire burned in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles.

The declarations order the state's Office of Emergency Services to provide aid to the counties.

A wildfire in a rural northern region of California has tripled in size overnight and more evacuations have been ordered.

The fire in Shasta County was estimated at more than 31 square miles (80 square kilometers) Thursday morning.

The local California Highway Patrol office says that the fire is now in the community of Old Shasta and people in the community of West Redding should prepare to leave.

The hamlet of French Gulch that dates to the Gold Rush era was evacuated after a vehicle problem ignited the blaze on Monday.

In Southern California, thousands remained evacuated Thursday as a suspected arson wildfire burned in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles.

California firefighters face another day of high temperatures as they try to contain a suspected arson wildfire that has forced evacuation of mountain communities and burned five homes east of Los Angeles.

The weather is calm Thursday morning in the San Jacinto Mountains where the fire broke out but forecasters say temperatures will remain above normal in the 90s to 100 with low relative humidity and that there could be gusty afternoon and evening winds.

The fire erupted Wednesday and rapidly spread over 7½ square miles (19 square kilometers), forcing the evacuation of the entire town of Idyllwild, other communities and youth summer camps.

A 32-year-old man is under arrest, booked on five counts of arson.

A wildfire authorities believe was sparked by arson has burned five homes and forced an entire forest town east of Los Angeles to evacuate.

The blaze that erupted Wednesday afternoon near the San Bernardino National Forest quickly grew to 7 ½ square miles (19 square kilometers) and fire officials say it threatens about 600 homes.

The entire town of Idyllwild along with several nearby communities are under mandatory evacuation orders.

Authorities arrested a Temecula man on suspicion of setting the fire. It's unclear whether he has an attorney.

To the north, at least one home burned in another fast-moving blaze in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In the Sierra Nevada, famed Yosemite National Park closed Wednesday as smoke from a fire to the west cast a pall on the region.</s>(Reuters) - One person was killed in a rapidly moving wildfire that sent residents fleeing from a northern California city on Friday as flames burned homes and businesses and knocked out power, fire officials said.

A bulldozer operator was killed in the so-called Carr Fire, a blaze in Shasta County that has tripled in size in the last two days to 28,000 acres (11,300 hectares), the state’s forestry and fire protection department said.

The blaze has crossed the Sacramento River and now threatens hundreds of homes on the western fringes of the city of Redding, fire officials said.

“The fire is moving so fast that law enforcement is doing evacuations as fast as we can. There have been some injuries to civilians and firefighters,” California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Scott McLean told the Sacramento Bee newspaper.

“It’s way too dynamic and burning quickly.”

Local and state fire officials were not available to confirm details of injuries.

Roads out of the city of 90,000 people were jammed with motorists trying to escape the flames, social media postings showed.

More than 1,700 firefighters were battling the blaze, Cal Fire said in an evening advisory.

“Right now they’re doing what they can, they’re trying to make a stand where they can, if possible,” McLean said. “It’s extreme. It’s blowing up off and on again.”

McLean added the wildfire was in an area of rolling hills and not in “house-to-house neighborhoods.”

Multiple power outages were reported, the city said on its website, adding that the electric utility was shutting off power in its northern areas.

California Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Shasta and Riverside Counties on Thursday over the Carr and Cranston fires, which were being supercharged by temperatures above 100 degrees F (37 C), erratic winds and low humidity.</s>Monday, a wild-fire now called “The Carr Fire” began, the flames have left two firefighters dead, and three injured.

Additionally, the fire has destroyed at least 500 structures, more than 45,000 acres and is threatening thousands of homes in California as the blaze continue.

About 38,000 people have been evacuated from the Northern California area as firefighters work to put out the ongoing fire.

This story will be updated once more information is available.

The post 38,000 evacuated as Carr wildfire continues to burn, 2 firefighters dead appeared first on 850 WFTL.</s>If you're viewing this on the ABC10 App, tap here for live video & multimedia.

Police in a Northern California city say they have been unable to locate 14 people, including a 70-year-old woman and her young great-grandchildren, amid a raging wildfire.

Redding Police Sgt. Todd Cogle said he expects most of the 14 to be safe since their homes survived the Shasta County wildfire. He says some may be having communication issues.

Cogle said he could not comment on Melody Bledsoe and 5-year-old James Roberts and 4-year-old Emily Roberts, who remain missing. He said the Shasta County Sheriff's Office is investigating.

Police have surrounded the Bledsoe property with crime scene tape.

An investigator Saturday wouldn't say if any remains had been found. The wildfire that started Monday has displaced at least 37,000 people.

The Carr Fire is now 80,906 acres and 5 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.

Officials say a deadly blaze in Northern California almost doubled in size overnight, but is moving away from populated areas.

Chris Anthony, deputy chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said Saturday the so-called Carr Fire burning in Shasta County has scorched 125 square miles (320 square kilometers).

Anthony says winds are fueling the fire but also pushing it away from Redding, a city of 90,000, and other populated areas. Thousands of people remain under evacuation orders, including the small towns of Ono and Igo.

The explosive wildfire in Northern California has killed two firefighters and destroyed 500 buildings. Another 5,000 buildings remain under threat.

REDDING, Calif. (AP) — In the small northern California community of Keswick, only a handful of homes remain.

The air is thick with the smell of smoke and chemicals. The rubble of people's lives still smoldered a day after the so-called Carr Fire moved through Shasta County like a freight train.

The flames so thoroughly ate up homes that it's difficult to tell how many once stood above the pile of ash and smoking rubble that remains.

Somewhere in there was the home of Shyla and Jason Campbell.

Jason Campbell, a firefighter, was six hours away battling a wildfire burning near Yosemite Valley when the Carr Fire moved in on his home and family.

Shyla Campbell, 32, said it was nearly 2 a.m. Thursday when she got an official alert to evacuate.

"It's huge flames, it's coming up the hill, and everyone's out and we're watching it, then it goes down, and everyone's like, 'Oh it's going out,' " she said. "And I'm like, 'No, it's going down the mountain and it's going to come back up the next ridge.' "

She was right.

The family spent the night at a hotel. When Jason Campbell returned from the blaze he was fighting on Friday, he found his own home had gone up in flames, along with an RV and a boat.

The Campbells' home of five years is among at least 500 structures that officials say were destroyed by the fire, which also swept through the historic Gold Rush town of Shasta and hit homes in Redding, a city of 92,000 about 100 miles south of the Oregon border.

"It's tough," Shyla Campbell said Friday from the city of Shasta Lake. "I just have to figure out where we're going to stay. We're just trying to stay away from the fire."

So are about 37,000 people who remain under evacuation orders Friday. Nearly 5,000 homes in the area were being threatened by the 75-square-mile (194-square-kilometer) blaze, which is just 5 percent contained.

Thousands of people scrambled to escape before the walls of flames descended from forested hills onto their neighborhoods Thursday.

Residents who gathered their belongings in haste described a chaotic and congested getaway as the embers blew up to a mile ahead of flames and the fire leaped across the wide Sacramento River and torched subdivisions in Redding.

Redding police chief Roger Moore was among those who lost their homes, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Greg and Terri Hill evacuated their Redding home of 18 years Thursday night with little more than their medications, photo albums, clothes and firearms, assuming they'd be back in a few days.

But when they returned Friday, virtually nothing was left of their home but fine particles of ash.

The remains were smoldering so hot, they couldn't get too close to see if anything survived.

"It's pretty emotional," Terri Hill said. "I know it's just stuff. A lot of memories. But we'll make new memories and get new stuff. Everybody's safe."

The Hills fled before they were told to, knowing danger was afoot when the power went out and helicopters suddenly began flying low over their home.

Liz Williams loaded up two kids in her car and then found herself locked in bumper-to-bumper traffic with neighbors trying to retreat from Lake Redding Estates.

She eventually jumped the curb onto the sidewalk and "booked it."

"I've never experienced something so terrifying in my life," she said. "I didn't know if the fire was just going to jump out behind a bush and grab me and suck me in."

The flames moved so fast that firefighters working in oven-like temperatures and bone-dry conditions had to drop efforts to battle the blaze at one point to help people escape.

The fire, which created at least two flaming tornados that toppled trees, shook firefighting equipment and busted truck windows, took "down everything in its path," said Scott McLean, a spokesman for Cal Fire, the state agency responsible for fighting wildfires.

Two firefighters were killed in the blaze, Redding fire inspector Jeremy Stoke and a bulldozer operator whose name wasn't immediately released. He was the second bulldozer operator killed in a California blaze in less than two weeks.

Fire officials warned that the blaze would probably burn deeper into urban areas before there was any hope of containing it, though it either changed direction or was stopped before it could burn into the core of the city.

Firefighters say 500 structures have been destroyed in a raging Northern California wildfire and another 5,000 are threatened.

Cal Fire released the updated figure Friday, though the number of homes burned in the so-called Carr Fire is expected to increase.

Earlier Friday, fire officials said 65 structures had been destroyed by the fast-moving blaze in Shasta County.

The blaze grew to 75 square miles (194 square kilometers) by Friday night. It began Monday with a mechanical failure of a vehicle. It grew completely out of control on Thursday, tearing through two small communities and reaching the city of Redding.

Tens of thousands of people fled the city in fear of their lives from the blaze, which has killed two firefighters.

The police chief of the Northern California city hit hard by a fast-moving wildfire is among those whose homes went up in flames.

Redding Police Chief Roger Moore told the Los Angeles Times that he and two other police officers lost their homes in Shasta County's Carr Fire.

Moore estimates at least 100 homes were destroyed overnight Thursday as the flames jumped the Sacramento River and raced into the outskirts of Redding. More than 37,000 residents have been evacuated.

The city of 92,000 is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of the Oregon border.

Moore said the family saved valuables such as photos and documents, but his wife and children are anxious and sad.

Gov. Brown sent a letter to President Trump Friday, requesting a Presidential Emergency Declaration for direct federal assistance with regards to the Carr Fire in Shasta County.

“Supplemental federal assistance is necessary to save lives and to protect property, public health and safety, and to lessen the effects of this imminent catastrophe,” Gov. Brown said in the letter.

According to the Associated Press' count, at least 125 homes have been destroyed in the Carr Fire.

A fire official says winds fanning a deadly blaze in Northern California were so strong that trees were ripped from the ground, flew in the air and landed across the street.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Chad Carroll said Friday many of those trees landed on homes.

He says that winds were so extreme Thursday that embers traveled up to a mile ahead of the flames.

Carroll says the wildfire that started Monday and has killed two firefighters is mainly burning near the city of Redding, which has about 90,000 residents.

But he says extreme winds are expected again Friday afternoon and says people in the area should be ready to evacuate.

Mandatory evacuations were extended overnight to include the city of Shasta Lake, which has about 10,000 residents.

Residents in Redding where several homes were destroyed say they had to scramble to escape the blaze.

Jim Chapin says he got home at around 7:30 p.m. Thursday and police were there telling people to evacuate the Lake Redding Estates neighborhood.

Chapin says his wife left, but he stayed behind to hose down the roof, gutters and fallen leaves.

He says that shortly afterward, the fire was burning trees behind neighbors' homes and ferocious winds whipped up branches, burning leaves, garbage-can lids, wood and other debris.

Chapin says the streets were so jammed with traffic that there was no way for firefighters to come in.

The 79-year-old returned to the neighborhood Friday and cried when he found his home still standing.

The Redding Fire Department says Fire Inspector Jeremy Stoke died battling the Carr Fire.

An official says more than 5,000 people have been evacuated and that authorities expect the Carr Fire to continue moving into urban areas.

California Governor's Office of Emergency Services spokesman Kelly Huston says they are coordinating bringing in aircrafts from the California National Guard to help fight the flames.

Officials say the extremely erratic wildfire in and around the city of Redding is growing rapidly amid scorching temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions. Temperatures are forecast to reach 110 (43 Celsius) Friday.

Huston says officials are moving emergency supplies including cots and food to four shelters set up in Shasta County.

He says the shelters are preparing for what could be a "longer-term" event.

Gov. Jerry Brown urges residents to follow all evacuations concerning the Carr Fire. CAL FIRE officials said under 5,000 structures are at risk.

"This is the new normal for us in California," said CAL FIRE division chief Chris Anthony.

REDDING, Calif. (AP) — 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 37,000 people have fled from the so-called Carr Fire, which began Monday and tripled in size overnight Thursday 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.

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.

Residents in the western part of Redding who had not been under evacuation orders were caught off guard and had to flee with little notice.

"When it hit, people were really scrambling," McLean said. "There was not much of a warning."

Many fire crews turned their focus from the flames to getting people out alive.

"Really, we're in a life-saving mode right now in Redding," said Jonathan Cox, battalion chief with Cal Fire. "We're not fighting a fire. We're trying to move people out of the path of it because it is now deadly, and it is now moving at speeds and in ways we have not seen before in this area."

Some residents drove to hotels or the homes of family members in safer parts of California, while other evacuees poured into a shelter just outside of town.

A reporter with Redding television station KRCR choked up as she reported live updates about the fire before the station had to go off the air later. Two news anchors told viewers that the building was being evacuated and urged residents to "be safe."

Journalists at the Record Searchlight newspaper tweeted about continuing to report on the fire without electricity in their newsroom, and a reporter at nearby KHSL television wrote on Twitter that the station's Redding reporters were "running home to gather their things."

Mike Mangas, a spokesman at Mercy Medical Center, said the hospital was evacuating five babies in its neonatal intensive care unit, which cares for premature newborns, and taking them to medical facilities outside of the area.

He said the hospital was preparing high-risk patients to be evacuated but there were no immediate plans to do so.

Late Thursday, crews found the body of the bulldozer operator who had been hired privately to clear vegetation in the blaze's path, McLean said. The fire burned over the operator and his equipment, making him the second bulldozer operator killed in a California blaze in less than two weeks.

Three firefighters and an unknown number of civilians had burns, but the extent of their injuries was not immediately known, McLean said.

"It's just chaotic. It's wild," he said. "There's a lot of fire, a lot of structures burning."

Firefighters tried in vain to build containment around the blaze Thursday, but flames kept jumping their lines, he said.

"It's just a heck of a fight," he said. "They're doing what they can do, and they get pushed out in a lot of cases. We're fighting the fight right now."

He said the fire behavior was so erratic, there were tornadoes within the fire "tossing around equipment, blowing windows out of Cal Fire pickup trucks."

The 45-square-mile (115-square-kilometer) fire that began Monday tripled in size overnight Thursday amid scorching temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions. It was sparked by a mechanical issue involving a vehicle, Cal Fire said.

Brett Gouvea, incident commander of the crews battling the fire, urged residents to pay close attention to the blaze.

"This fire is extremely dangerous and moving with no regard for what's in its path," he said.

Earlier in the day, with flames exploding around Whiskeytown Lake, people tried to save boats at a marina by untying them from moorings and pushing them to safety. But it wasn't swift enough to spare them all. Dozens of charred, twisted and melted boats were among the losses at Oak Bottom Marina.

"The boat docks down there — all the way out in the water — 30 to 40 boats caught fire when the fire laid down on top of them last night and burned those up," said fire Chief Mike Hebrard of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Wildfires throughout the state have burned through tinder-dry brush and forest, forced thousands to evacuate homes and caused campers to pack up their tents at the height of summer. Gov. Jerry Brown declared states of emergency for the three largest fires, which will authorize the state to rally resources to local governments.

A huge forest fire continued to grow outside Yosemite National Park. That blaze killed 36-year-old Braden Varney, a heavy equipment operator for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection whose bulldozer rolled over into a ravine July 14.

Hundreds of miles to the south, the Cranston Fire grew to 7.5 square miles (19 square kilometers) and about 3,000 residents remained under evacuation orders in Idyllwild and several neighboring communities. That fire, which destroyed five homes, is believed to have been sparked by arson.

Click here for a list of evacuation orders and additional information.</s>Carr Fire - Cal Fire and Fire Depts. in the northern California get together to fire the Carr Fire on Thursday morning. The fire continues to move east from Old Shasta all the way to Iron Mountain Road this morning. (Special to the Record Searchlight by photo by Hung T. Vu)

REDDING, Calif. – A wildfire raging in Northern California exploded in size overnight and continued its swift march toward heavily populated areas Thursday, killing at least one person and consuming nearly 45 square miles by late afternoon, fire officials said.

A bulldozer operator, who was hired privately, was killed in the blaze while at least three firefighters and an unknown number of civilians were injured with burns, said Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean.

The Carr Fire raged northeast and burned through Shasta and Keswick toward Redding and Shasta Dam.

Officials issued evacuation orders to more than 2,200 residents west and north of Redding.

McLean said the situation was chaotic as residents had little warning to flee the area.

At least 15 structures were destroyed and five more damaged, according to Cal Fire. It was not immediately clear where they were located.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials and Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said numerous homes had burned in the Keswick and Shasta areas.

As of Thursday afternoon the fire had consumed 28,763 acres. It was considered 10 percent contained.

California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in all of Shasta County due to the Carr Fire and other fires in the area. Sheriff Tom Bosenko also declared a local state of emergency.

Mike Hebrard, Shasta County fire chief, said winds pushed the Carr Fire northeast toward Shasta Dam.

"The fire right now, to the north, is essentially running toward Shasta Dam," Hebrard said in a mid-day press conference.

More: Yosemite fire: What we know about the Ferguson Fire near the national park

Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said the fire had shut down the Sacramento River Trail because trail users on the western edge near Keswick were in danger.

Highway 299 west of Buenaventura Boulevard was closed and most roads west of that intersection were also closed. Most residents west of that intersection were ordered to evacuate.

On Thursday, fire crews focused on keeping the fire from jumping Iron Mountain Road in the Keswick area, battling to prevent it from moving closer to Redding.

Carr Fire - Cal Fire and Fire Depts. in the northern California get together to fire the Carr Fire on Thursday morning. The fire continues to move east from Old Shasta all the way to Iron Mountain Road this morning. (Special to the Record Searchlight by photo by Hung T. Vu)

“We are trying to cut it off on Iron Mountain Road and keep it north, away from the city,” Hebrard said. “So if we can get that today, that’s a big win.”

The weather, however, will continue to be a challenge for firefighters.

The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning Thursday, as the temperature reached a hot, sticky and smoky 112 degrees. The high was expected to reach 110 Friday and 109 Saturday and Sunday, forecasters said.

Authorities urged residents to evacuate when they are told and pack clothes, important documents, medicines, cellphone chargers and other materials. Be prepared to be away from home for two to three days, Bosenko said.

“People who refuse to evacuate not only put themselves and family in danger, they are putting fire personnel in danger,” Bosenko said.

As of Thursday, there were no reported injuries or fatalities from the fire.

The sheriff’s office sent out evacuation notices to more than 600 homes, which includes an estimated 2,200 residents, Bosenko said.

Cody McCoy said he was packed up and ready to go. He said he was up all night Wednesday watching the fire from his rooftop.

Carr Fire - Cal Fire and Fire Depts. in the northern California get together to fire the Carr Fire on Thursday morning. The fire continues to move east from Old Shasta all the way to Iron Mountain Road this morning. (Special to the Record Searchlight by photo by Hung T. Vu)

His street was under an evacuation order, but McCoy said he was waiting until the last moment to leave.

Meanwhile, Oak Bottom Marina on Whiskeytown Lake was destroyed.

“The only buildings left standing are the fire station and a couple of restrooms,” Hebrard said. “The concession stands are burned up.”

About 40 boats at the marina were destroyed, he said. Others were released from their moorings and set adrift on the lake.

What caused the fire to explode

Hebrard said the fire took off Wednesday night, spotting up to half a mile ahead of the main inferno. The fire was pushed by wind being sucked in from the coast, he said.

“What we have is a condition here where it’s 110 degrees in the valley; it’s 60 degrees on the coast. The hot air rises, the air sucks in and those are the winds we are getting about 7 to 8 o’clock every night. And it is pushing that fire basically to the east, to the north,” Hebrard said.

“So the fire right now to the north is essentially running toward the dam, Shasta Dam,” he said.</s>REDDING, Calif. – The message from the Igo Ono Fire Department was blunt: "Time to go now. Leave Igo take your pets time to go."

With the fire bearing down on Igo, an unincorporated community of around 600 people southwest of Redding, law enforcement officials posted the warning on Facebook and also went door to door to urge residents to clear out.

Igo, and nearby Ono, were just two more communities in a series of cities, towns and hamlets threatened by a voracious wildfire in northern California that has destroyed 500 structures and grown to more than 75 square miles.

Another 5,000 structures are threatened by the Carr Fire in and around Redding, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. As of Friday evening, the blaze was 5 percent contained.

At least two people have died battling the wind-driven blaze that jumped the Sacramento River as it moved eastward and roared into Redding. One was identified as Jeremy Stoke, a fire inspector for the Redding Fire Department.

A privately hired bulldozer operator also died fighting to contain the blaze. At least three firefighters have been injured.

The massive fire uprooted trees and damaged roads as crews worked to get a handle on a deadly blaze that has led to massive evacuations in this Northern California city.

"We’re seeing, literally almost what can be described as a tornado occurred over this fire yesterday," Cal Fire Chief Ken Pimlott told reporters. "The fire was whipped up into a whirlwind of activity."

Pimlott said the tornadic activity caused trees to topple and vehicles to move. It damaged roads and made the job of firefighters even harder.

He said many workers have lost homes or have families who lost their homes in the blaze but still pulled off "herculean" efforts to "pull people from harm's way."

Hot, dry weather is forecast through the weekend with temperatures well over 100 degrees. The winds, high temperatures and dry vegetation have the potential to fuel the fire’s growth, Cal Fire officials said.

The residents of Shasta Lake, a city of 10,000 people north of Redding, were ordered to evacuate overnight Friday with little warning as the fire destroyed homes in the communities of Shasta, Keswick and the west side of Redding, a city of about 92,000 people.

At one point, as the blaze pushed into Redding late Thursday, TV anchors providing live coverage on KRCR-TV had to abandon their studios because of the threat.

“Right now we are being evacuated,” anchor Allison Woods told viewers. “We are going to leave the station because it is now unsafe to be here.”

The fire is believed to have started Monday in the Gold Rush-era hamlet of French Gulch after a vehicle problem ignited the blaze Monday. Driven by high winds, it exploded overnight Thursday and continued its swift march toward heavily populated areas.

Whiskeytown, a once vibrant and bustling mining community southeast of French Gulch, was destroyed as the fire marched toward Redding. A state parks official says employees worked feverishly to save historic artifacts from a Northern California gold rush-era museum threatened by wildfire.

Jenny Espino and Jim Schultz report for the Redding (Calif.) Record Searchlight; Stanglin reports from McLean,Va.; Contributing: Associated Press</s>If you're viewing this on the ABC10 App, tap here for multimedia.

Firefighters say 500 structures have been destroyed in a raging Northern California wildfire and another 5,000 are threatened.

Cal Fire released the updated figure Friday, though the number of homes burned in the so-called Carr Fire is expected to increase.

Earlier Friday, fire officials said 65 structures had been destroyed by the fast-moving blaze in Shasta County.

The blaze grew to 75 square miles (194 square kilometers) by Friday night. It began Monday with a mechanical failure of a vehicle. It grew completely out of control on Thursday, tearing through two small communities and reaching the city of Redding.

Tens of thousands of people fled the city in fear of their lives from the blaze, which has killed two firefighters.

The police chief of the Northern California city hit hard by a fast-moving wildfire is among those whose homes went up in flames.

Redding Police Chief Roger Moore told the Los Angeles Times that he and two other police officers lost their homes in Shasta County's Carr Fire.

Moore estimates at least 100 homes were destroyed overnight Thursday as the flames jumped the Sacramento River and raced into the outskirts of Redding. More than 37,000 residents have been evacuated.

The city of 92,000 is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of the Oregon border.

Moore said the family saved valuables such as photos and documents, but his wife and children are anxious and sad.

Gov. Brown sent a letter to President Trump Friday, requesting a Presidential Emergency Declaration for direct federal assistance with regards to the Carr Fire in Shasta County.

“Supplemental federal assistance is necessary to save lives and to protect property, public health and safety, and to lessen the effects of this imminent catastrophe,” Gov. Brown said in the letter.

According to the Associated Press' count, at least 125 homes have been destroyed in the Carr Fire.

A fire official says winds fanning a deadly blaze in Northern California were so strong that trees were ripped from the ground, flew in the air and landed across the street.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Chad Carroll said Friday many of those trees landed on homes.

He says that winds were so extreme Thursday that embers traveled up to a mile ahead of the flames.

Carroll says the wildfire that started Monday and has killed two firefighters is mainly burning near the city of Redding, which has about 90,000 residents.

But he says extreme winds are expected again Friday afternoon and says people in the area should be ready to evacuate.

Mandatory evacuations were extended overnight to include the city of Shasta Lake, which has about 10,000 residents.

Residents in Redding where several homes were destroyed say they had to scramble to escape the blaze.

Jim Chapin says he got home at around 7:30 p.m. Thursday and police were there telling people to evacuate the Lake Redding Estates neighborhood.

Chapin says his wife left, but he stayed behind to hose down the roof, gutters and fallen leaves.

He says that shortly afterward, the fire was burning trees behind neighbors' homes and ferocious winds whipped up branches, burning leaves, garbage-can lids, wood and other debris.

Chapin says the streets were so jammed with traffic that there was no way for firefighters to come in.

The 79-year-old returned to the neighborhood Friday and cried when he found his home still standing.

The Redding Fire Department says Fire Inspector Jeremy Stoke died battling the Carr Fire.

An official says more than 5,000 people have been evacuated and that authorities expect the Carr Fire to continue moving into urban areas.

California Governor's Office of Emergency Services spokesman Kelly Huston says they are coordinating bringing in aircrafts from the California National Guard to help fight the flames.

Officials say the extremely erratic wildfire in and around the city of Redding is growing rapidly amid scorching temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions. Temperatures are forecast to reach 110 (43 Celsius) Friday.

Huston says officials are moving emergency supplies including cots and food to four shelters set up in Shasta County.

He says the shelters are preparing for what could be a "longer-term" event.

Gov. Jerry Brown urges residents to follow all evacuations concerning the Carr Fire. CAL FIRE officials said under 5,000 structures are at risk.

"This is the new normal for us in California," said CAL FIRE division chief Chris Anthony.

REDDING, Calif. (AP) — 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 37,000 people have fled from the so-called Carr Fire, which began Monday and tripled in size overnight Thursday 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.

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.

Residents in the western part of Redding who had not been under evacuation orders were caught off guard and had to flee with little notice.

"When it hit, people were really scrambling," McLean said. "There was not much of a warning."

Many fire crews turned their focus from the flames to getting people out alive.

"Really, we're in a life-saving mode right now in Redding," said Jonathan Cox, battalion chief with Cal Fire. "We're not fighting a fire. We're trying to move people out of the path of it because it is now deadly, and it is now moving at speeds and in ways we have not seen before in this area."

Some residents drove to hotels or the homes of family members in safer parts of California, while other evacuees poured into a shelter just outside of town.

A reporter with Redding television station KRCR choked up as she reported live updates about the fire before the station had to go off the air later. Two news anchors told viewers that the building was being evacuated and urged residents to "be safe."

Journalists at the Record Searchlight newspaper tweeted about continuing to report on the fire without electricity in their newsroom, and a reporter at nearby KHSL television wrote on Twitter that the station's Redding reporters were "running home to gather their things."

Mike Mangas, a spokesman at Mercy Medical Center, said the hospital was evacuating five babies in its neonatal intensive care unit, which cares for premature newborns, and taking them to medical facilities outside of the area.

He said the hospital was preparing high-risk patients to be evacuated but there were no immediate plans to do so.

Late Thursday, crews found the body of the bulldozer operator who had been hired privately to clear vegetation in the blaze's path, McLean said. The fire burned over the operator and his equipment, making him the second bulldozer operator killed in a California blaze in less than two weeks.

Three firefighters and an unknown number of civilians had burns, but the extent of their injuries was not immediately known, McLean said.

"It's just chaotic. It's wild," he said. "There's a lot of fire, a lot of structures burning."

Firefighters tried in vain to build containment around the blaze Thursday, but flames kept jumping their lines, he said.

"It's just a heck of a fight," he said. "They're doing what they can do, and they get pushed out in a lot of cases. We're fighting the fight right now."

He said the fire behavior was so erratic, there were tornadoes within the fire "tossing around equipment, blowing windows out of Cal Fire pickup trucks."

The 45-square-mile (115-square-kilometer) fire that began Monday tripled in size overnight Thursday amid scorching temperatures, low humidity and windy conditions. It was sparked by a mechanical issue involving a vehicle, Cal Fire said.

Brett Gouvea, incident commander of the crews battling the fire, urged residents to pay close attention to the blaze.

"This fire is extremely dangerous and moving with no regard for what's in its path," he said.

Earlier in the day, with flames exploding around Whiskeytown Lake, people tried to save boats at a marina by untying them from moorings and pushing them to safety. But it wasn't swift enough to spare them all. Dozens of charred, twisted and melted boats were among the losses at Oak Bottom Marina.

"The boat docks down there — all the way out in the water — 30 to 40 boats caught fire when the fire laid down on top of them last night and burned those up," said fire Chief Mike Hebrard of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Wildfires throughout the state have burned through tinder-dry brush and forest, forced thousands to evacuate homes and caused campers to pack up their tents at the height of summer. Gov. Jerry Brown declared states of emergency for the three largest fires, which will authorize the state to rally resources to local governments.

A huge forest fire continued to grow outside Yosemite National Park. That blaze killed 36-year-old Braden Varney, a heavy equipment operator for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection whose bulldozer rolled over into a ravine July 14.

Hundreds of miles to the south, the Cranston Fire grew to 7.5 square miles (19 square kilometers) and about 3,000 residents remained under evacuation orders in Idyllwild and several neighboring communities. That fire, which destroyed five homes, is believed to have been sparked by arson.

Click here for a list of evacuation orders and additional information.
The Carr wildfire threatening Redding, California, U.S., kills two firefighters, as many residents flee their homes.