1 Dead, Dozens of Homes Burned by Devastating Wildfire in Redding, California

Hot and Dry Conditions Fueling Several Wildfires in California

Wildfires persisted in California as hot, dry conditions fueled the blazes.
Residents in Redding had little time to flee as the Carr Fire moved into town, killing one.
Gov. Jerry Brown declared an emergency for two counties because of the fires.

Dozens of homes were burned by a deadly wildfire that invaded the town of Redding, California, Thursday night and moved so quickly that residents had little time to flee.

The Carr Fire killed a bulldozer operator and injured three other firefighters as it jumped the Sacramento River and rapidly moved into the west side of the town of more than 90,000 people Thursday night. Residents were urged to evacuate, and the inferno moved so quickly that fire crews had only one priority: aiding in evacuations in hopes the death toll wouldn't rise.

Cal Fire Chief Brett Gouvea confirmed to the Sacramento Bee that there were injuries to civilians, but did not say how many people were hurt or how severely.

"Really we're in a life-saving mode right now in Redding," said Jonathan Cox, a 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."

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U.S. Forest Service Capt. Matt Mason told the Bee that officials didn't believe the fire would get into Redding, but strong winds made it impossible to contain outside the city limits.

"We weren’t prepared," he told the Bee.

Located on the western side of Redding, KRCR-TV was forced to go off the air and evacuate their studio in the middle of a Thursday night broadcast.

The fire also reportedly burned structures in the town of Shasta, located 10 miles west of Redding, and in Keswick.

Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency Thursday morning as the aggressive inferno advanced in Shasta County. The emergency declaration also included Riverside County, allowing state resources to be used to fight the Cranston Fire at the opposite end of the state.

At the Oak Bottom Marina on Whiskeytown Lake, several structures and about 40 boats were torched by the blaze, Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko told the Redding Record Searchlight.

"If you’ve seen the weather we are going to be 110 (degrees) for the next week, so know we are going to be up against this," Cal Fire Chief Mike Hebrard told the Record Searchlight.

A red flag warning and an excessive heat warning remain in place Friday for the impacted area, highlighting the extremely favorable conditions for fire growth.

The fire had burned about 45 square miles by Thursday evening and was 6 percent contained. The inferno has been blamed on the "mechanical failure of a vehicle," according to Cal Fire.

Cranston Fire Threatens Hundreds of Homes

Sparked Wednesday in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles, the so-called Cranston Fire burned timber and tinder-dry brush, erupting to a 7-square-mile conflagration in just a matter of hours. The fire had spread to nearly 12 square miles by Friday morning and was just 3 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.

Authorities said the blaze threatened some 600 homes, and all 3,200 people in the town of Idyllwild and surrounding communities were ordered to leave their homes.

The inferno was the largest of at least five that police believe were purposely set Wednesday by a man whose car was reportedly spotted at the starting point of the blaze in Riverside County, officials said.

Brandon N. McGlover, 32, of Temecula was booked on suspicion of five counts of arson, state fire officials said. It wasn't clear whether he had an attorney.

William Blodgett of Idyllwild said he couldn't get home because of the fire and had to wait along with others at a gas station in nearby Mountain Center — until the fire hopped a highway and began to move in his direction.

"We were all peeling out of there as fast as we could," he told KNBC-TV. "It was apocalyptic."

Horses and other animals were taken to shelters as were several hundred children who were evacuated from summer camps. About 200 were at a local high school serving as a shelter, KCAL-TV reported.

The fire in the San Bernardino National Forest sent up a cloud 50,000 feet high that was so enormous it created its own weather in the form of lightning, the National Weather Service reported.

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Throughout the day, helicopters and planes dumped water and fire retardant that turned swathes of land and homes pink. Fire engines also were stationed to protect homes.

The fire is one of several across California amid a heat wave that has seen days of triple-digit temperatures.

Yosemite Valley Closed for Days

Yosemite Valley, the scenic heart of the national park, was closed at noon Wednesday during the height of tourist season as smoke cast a pall on the region from a fire in the Sierra Nevada. The closure was heartbreaking for travelers, many of whom mapped out their trips months in advance to hike and climb amid the spectacular views of cascading waterfalls and sheer rock faces.

"We had one guest who planned a weeklong trip," said Tom Lambert, who owns a vacation rental property near Yosemite Valley. "It was a father-daughter trip, for her high school graduation ... Now it's done. It's sad." Another guest had to delay plans to climb Half Dome.

Officials emphasized that Yosemite wasn't in imminent danger from the fire. Authorities decided on the shutdown to allow crews to perform protective measures such as burning away brush along roadways without having to deal with traffic in the park that welcomes 4 million visitors annually.

Yosemite Valley will be closed until at least Sunday, along with a winding, mountainous, 20-mile stretch of California's State Route 41 that leads into the area, Gediman said.

At least 1,000 campground and hotel bookings were canceled — to say nothing of the impact on day visitors, park workers and small businesses along the highway, Gediman said.

The last time the 7.5-mile-long valley was closed because of fire was 1990, he said.

Over nearly two weeks, flames have churned through 60 square miles of timber in the steep terrain of the Sierra Nevada just west of the park. The fire was just 25 percent contained.

More than 3,300 firefighters are working the fire, aided by 16 helicopters. One firefighter was killed July 14, and six others have been injured.

In the state's far north, a 7-square-mile wildfire has forced the evacuation of French Gulch, a small Shasta County community that dates to the Gold Rush.

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