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REDDING – Thousands of homes in Shasta County remain on the unrelenting path of the Carr Fire, which has cost the lives of two firefighters, a great-grandmother Redding and two young children.
managed to contain 5 percent of the 83,800-acre fire. It has destroyed 536 structures and continues to threaten another 5,000.
The intensity and unpredictability of the fire surprised even the most experienced firefighters – it consumed nearly twice as much night from Friday to Saturday as during the past five days. 19659003] There was some respite on Saturday night, however: the progress of the fire in the town of Redding had slowed down, confirmed Cal Fire spokesman Anthony Romero. The Shasta County Sheriff's Department has also issued evacuation orders along Canyon Road, Ranchette Drive, Prospectors Road, Copper Drive, Valley View Road, Silverado Drive, Windsor Lane and Redbank Road along the border Southwest of Redding. the fire started, and many were still unable to return to their homes on Saturday night.
Renee Reed, 59, who lives in the small town of Platina south-west of Redding, packed clothes, food for her dog and sentimental items like family jewels and photos before leaving.
Reed has lived in Platina for at least 12 years, she said, and there has already been a fire in the area, but not so scary. She has never felt the need to evacuate until now.
"You must do what you have to do," she says while picking up business near her car waiting
Steve Crawford, Cal Fire spokesperson, saw something like fire during his 30-year career.
"This fire is burning in all directions at once," Crawford said at a press conference Saturday afternoon. "Even though we have several resources, the way she burns … it's as if she had a Santa Ana wind or a strong 60 mph wind, 70 mph behind her."
A moving scene in front of the sheriff's department, Sherry Bledsoe, confirmed to the media that her children and her grandmother died in their home in Redding. The trio – Melody Bledsoe, 70, Emily Roberts, 4, and James Roberts, 5 – had disappeared since Thursday night.
Investigators were examining a house in this area Saturday for fire victims, confirmed Pat Kropholler, sheriff of Shasta County Sheriff. However, it took some time for the investigators to come to the scene, he said, because the gas lines in the houses fed the flames all day long.
Melody's husband, Ed Bledsoe, was crying. tried to come home to save the three. He left the three behind at home to run a race on Thursday, and when he learned about the fire, he ran talking to the kids on the phone, he said, "I talked to them until that day. that fire reached them … "I was trying to reach them, I was trying to go to the fire."
But Bledsoe could not go home. "The fire was right .. he said to Bee, "I wanted to die there, I wanted to go."
The other people killed by the authorities were two firefighters: Jeremy Stoke, Redding Fire Inspector, 37 years old, and Don Ray Smith, 81 years old, bulldozer driver 19659003] Get breaking news with our free mobile app Buy it on the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.
On Saturday, President Donald Trump issued an emergency statement for California, allowing counties to fight forest fires and FEMA to provide of equipment and resources with the mission "to mitigate or avoid the threat of a disaster in Shasta County," according to a FEMA release. The National Guard has helped suppress and support fires, according to a Cal Fire official. More than 3,400 firefighters fought the fire day and night.
Other fires broke out on Saturday in Lake, Mendocino and Napa counties, prompting Governor Jerry Brown to proclaim the state of emergency in these areas
with temperatures at three. Figures were expected around Redding for the rest of the weekend, according to Cal Fire. With strong winds and low humidity, weather conditions and dry vegetation "can still fuel the growth of fire," say officials
Terrifying lessons from wine country fires – How to prepare for a forest fire in your neighborhood
Four evacuation centers were set up in Redding and Weaverville, west of Redding. Shasta College reported Saturday that they were fully occupied. Normal Hall, the president of Simpson College, told KRCR that he was expecting the evacuation center of his college to be fully occupied by the end of the day.
The Red Cross opened two shelters and local churches
Sheriff's officials confirmed Saturday that they had received reports of potential looting in the evacuated areas.
The people of Happy Valley had experienced forest fires as recently as last month. Suebee Semore had to evacuate for five days in June when flames burned the rural area around her house on Cloverdale Road.
On Saturday, she watched from her house as the nearby areas were cleared and the flames filled the thick smoke area. Her home and the already burnt land around her seemed safe, but the devastation nearby was staggering, she said.
"I saw forest fires," said Semore, who has lived in the area for most of his life. "But I've never seen anything so big."
Semore is no stranger to fire risk. In 2014, a fire burned this house. She tried to hold the flames with a pipe, but finally had to go out. And the more recent June fire hit his property directly, burning part of the fence. She was returning from vacation when this fire hit, prompting her to unload her car, load her animals and leave.
Come back for updates.
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