Deadly Northern California wildfire grows by two-thirds overnight

A fire that started in a rural community in northern California underscored a new reality in the state when days later it suddenly roared through neighborhoods on the edge of the city of Redding: Urban areas are increasingly vulnerable to wildfires.

Two residents who chose not to leave were 61-year-old Rob Wright and his wife, who planned to fight off flames with a high-powered water hose. Authorities had not reopened any evacuated neighborhoods where fires raged due to safety and ongoing investigations and urged people to be patient. Officers have gone to homes of several people reported missing and found cars gone – a strong indication they fled.

Redding Police Sergeant Todd Cogle said he expects most of the 14 to be safe because their homes survived the fire.

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

Bledsoe said his wife, Melody, “was the best wife a guy could have”.

“Emily says, ‘I love you, Grandpa.’ Grandma said ‘I love you, Grandpa.’ Junior said, ‘I love you. come and get us. come and get us.’ I said ‘I’m on my way”.

One of them, 57-year-old David Franceschine, said he had been on a camping trip when the fire erupted. “The fire was just, the whole damn place was nothing but fire”, Ed Bledsoe, Melody’s husband, told the Sacramento Bee. “I can’t see how I can go on without them”.

At least 874 buildings have been destroyed by the 95,000-acre blaze, Cal Fire said. At least two people have been killed and nearly 40,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.

The Associated Press reported that 12,000 firefighters were battling the fires across the state, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman Lynne Tolmachoff.

Between Friday night and Saturday morning, the fire doubled in size.

Above: The red line on the map shows the perimeter of the southeast side of the Carr Fire near Igo as determined by heat sensors on an aircraft at 10:21 p.m. PDT July 28, 2019.

“We got disgusting news”.

Resources assigned to the fire include 334 fire engines, 59 hand crews, 17 helicopters, 68 dozers, 65 water tenders, for a total of 3,388 personnel.

President Donald Trump has declared an emergency in California, offering government aid to help with the rescue and response efforts.

In December, Governor Jerry Brown said devastating wildfires fuelled by climate change had become “the new normal”, and that large fires “could happen every year or every few years”.

“Over the years, we’re putting more people in harm’s way”, he said. About 260 National Guard soldiers and about 100 police officers were guarding evacuated homes, he said.

Bledsoe’s granddaughter Amanda Woodley provided more details in a public Facebook post written just after she left the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office.

Wildfires have scorched nearly 4.3 million acres (1.7 million hectares) across the country so far this year, less than last year but more than the 3.7 million-acre (1.5 million-hectare) average for the same period over the last decade.

Huge fires continued to burn outside Yosemite National Park and in the San Jacinto Mountains east of Los Angeles near Palm Springs.

Another large fire, dubbed the Ferguson Fire, has killed two people, both firefighters, and burned more than 54,481 acres in Mariposa County, California, near Yosemite National Park, authorities said.