California blaze takes 5 lives, destroys 500 buildings

For more information: Oh stag! The scourge of California fires, driven by high winds, increased from about 35 percent overnight to 127 square miles as its fiery tentacles spread to the communities of Ono, Igo and Gas Point. Saturday afternoon, the six-day fire destroyed 500 buildings and stole five lives.

A 70-year-old woman and her two great-grandchildren died in a rural country house razed by a wind-ravaged forest fire ravaging northern California.

The death of Melody Bledsoe and her great-grandchildren, James Roberts, and Emily Roberts, age 4, was confirmed by the children's mother, Sherry Bledsoe, and the Shasta County Sheriff's Office . My babies are dead, "said Sherry Bledsoe through her tears after being informed of the deaths. Friends and other family members comforted the mother while she was crying outside the sheriff's office.

The family members desperately searched for the three since the house had been consumed by the fire, causing the roof to collapse and preventing firefighters from entering the house.

Bledsoe's husband was stocking up at the store when his great-grandson called him and said he had to go home because the fire was approaching.

Two firefighters were also killed fighting the uncontrollable fire: Jeremy Stoke, a fire inspector for the Redding Fire Department, and Don Ray Smith, 81, a private bulldozer operator.

Firefighters were able to access some of the fire-ravaged areas on Saturday, finding a trail of destruction left behind. A number of houses in the Lake Kenswick Estates subdivision have been completely razed, with the fire having quickly taken over. All that remained was a trail of ash, brick and metal, with some charred remains of pools, sheds and the hull of what were vehicles.

"Complete subdivisions leveled, it looked like a war zone," sheriff Bosenko said. "Sometimes no house stood up and that was the life of some people and they had a lot of memories that were invested in it."

The number of destroyed buildings is expected to increase by 500.

Approximately 37,000 people are under the command of the government. evacuation, 5,000 homes are under threat and the fire is contained at only 5%.

In Happy Valley, residents rushed to load their belongings into vehicles, including pets and livestock.

The Dwinell family, who had lived in the area since the 1940s, had loaded a recreational vehicle and their dog. Earnie Dwinell Jr. looked up as he was helping his parents pack the RV. It's "bad, just bad," said the 61-year-old.

"We have been here all our life, and this is not normal," he said about the fire. "Well, I guess it's normal now."

The winds that caused the tornadoes in northern California temporarily helped firefighters on Saturday by moving them away from more populated areas, but also by releasing the flames in the communities. Redding, forcing chaotic evacuations overnight.

At the same time, warn the firefighters, it is likely that the winds will move again, bringing fugitive flames back to Redding, with a population of about 92,000.

"We are not taking a break with the weather," said Chris Anthony, a spokesman for Cal Fire, the state's fire-fighting agency. forest. "It continues to be really hot, really dry and we continue to have these winds. … This fire becomes so big and there are so many different parts. "

For communities in the southwest of the city, the message from the Igo Ono Fire Department was bluntly:" It is time to go now. "

As the fire crackled on Igo, an unincorporated community of about 600 people, law enforcement agencies posted the warning on Facebook and made the door – to – door gate to urge the locals to go away. ]

Igo, and Ono and Gaspoint nearby were just three other communities caught in the voracious wild fire path in northern California that destroyed 500 structures The Carr fire was lit Monday by a vehicle and exploded Thursday night, jumped the Sacramento River and pushed into Redding, about 250 miles north of San Francisco. [19] 659008] What officials called a possible tornado made matters worse, uprooting trees and damaging roads as teams worked to control the deadly fire.

Justin Montes, of Redding Lake, said he was the last to leave his neighborhood.

He said that he was running from his house to his car in very strong winds that caused trees and branches to fall scattered on the courtyard next door.

It was like a fire storm – winds ripping. I saw sparks flying and throwing garbage cans. My fence was torn apart, "said Montes," I thought my house was a toast. " For more information: California's Longest and Hottest Summers Trigger a Deadly and Destructive Fire Season

More: ] Where is Redding?