Great-grandmother sought to ward off the American fire that killed her, two children

REDDING, Calif. (Reuters) – A wildfire raging in northern California that devoured entire neighborhoods killed two children and their great-grandmother, who had covered them with a wet blanket for them. save the limbs said.

Two firefighters also died and 12 others are missing. More than 38,000 people remained under evacuation orders Sunday in and around the city of Redding, about 160 miles (257 km) north of the state capital, Sacramento.

The Carr Fire, which destroyed more than 500 buildings, is the deadliest and most destructive of nearly 90 forest fires from Texas to Oregon. Carr's fire charred 89,194 acres (36,095 hectares) of drought-dried vegetation since it erupted last Monday.

Redding Police Sergeant Todd Cogle confirmed that the three bodies found in a fire-ravaged house on the outskirts of Redding were two children and their great-grandmother.

The victims identified by relatives on Facebook and in the media were James Roberts, 5, his sister Emily 4 years and their great-grandmother Melody Bledsoe 70 years.

Bledsoe's granddaughter, Amanda Woodley, on Facebook An elderly woman desperately put a wet blanket over the kids as their house burned.

"Grandmother did everything she could to save them, she was hovering over them both with a wet blanket," Woodley said in a Facebook post.

The children's mother, Sherry Bledsoe, was quoted by the Sacramento Bee as saying, "My children are dead.It's all I can say."

& # 39; ERRATIC BEHAVIOR & # 39;

Sunday weather should not offer relief to firefighters as it will reach over 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.7 degrees Celsius) with low humidity and wind gusts. Meteorological Service said.

An army of some 3,500 firefighters and a squadron of 17 helicopters dropping water had managed to dig safety lines around only 5% of the perimeter of the fire on Sunday.

Firefighters say the erratic behavior of the fire, fueled by strong winds and three-digit temperatures, has complicated efforts to contain the fire.

President Donald Trump said Saturday that the fire was an emergency, allowing federal funds for disaster relief.

At the height of his fury on Thursday night, the fire turns into a storm -like a frenzy by the gale force winds that drove the flames across the Sacramento River into the west end of Redding, while thousands of residents fled their lives in a chaotic evacuation.

The nearby town of Keswick, with a population of about 450 inhabitants, was reduced to ashes and two firefighters were killed.

FIRE-RAVAGED HOME

Melody Bledsoe's husband, who died trying to protect his great-grandchildren, cried while remembering that he tried to return to the family's home after leaving Thursday for to go shopping. to learn that the fire was getting closer to them. Ed Bledsoe told the newspaper that he spoke to the children on the phone while he was running in vain to return in time to save them.

A Go Fund Me effort, launched overnight to help Ed Bledsoe, had raised nearly half of his $ 30,000 goal by mid-day on Sunday. He said the elderly couple had been working great-grandchildren for years in their rental house.

Up to this year, wildfires have burned nearly 4.3 million acres (1.7 million hectares) across the country, less than the US $ 399,000. last year, but more than the average of 3.7 million acres (1.5 million hectares) during the same period. the last decade. California has been particularly affected by several fierce fires threatening large populated areas.

The California Department of Forests and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) estimates that more than 300 fires were burning in California starting Sunday morning.

One of them, the fire of Ferguson, caused the closure of much of Yosemite National Park last week, while another mbadively evacuated the Idyllwild mountain resort, east of Los Angeles.