California fire slows; 2 more lives claimed
REDDING, Calif. — The deadly Northern California wildfire that has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes slowed down Sunday after days of explosive growth, giving officials hope even as they announced the discovery of a sixth fatality.
“We’re feeling a lot more optimistic today as we’re starting to gain some ground rather than being in a defensive mode on this fire all the time,” said Bret Gouvea, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s incident commander, on the blaze around Redding, a city about 230 miles north of San Francisco.
Gouvea spoke at a news conference with fire and law enforcement officials. Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said authorities found a sixth victim of the blaze at a home that was consumed by flames. He did not say where.
A firefighter also died Sunday fighting a different blaze, near Yosemite National Park.
National parks officials say 33-year-old Brian Hughes died Sunday near the fire line after he was struck by a falling tree. Mike Theune, a spokesman for the so-called Ferguson Fire, said Hughes was part of a crew removing brush and other fuel near the fire’s front lines.
Officials have now reported eight deaths from wildfires across California. In addition to Hughes and the six fatalities from the so-called Carr Fire, firefighter Braden Varney died earlier this month when a bulldozer overturned as he battled the fire at Yosemite.
Keswick, a mountain town of about 450 people, was almost completely wiped out by the Carr Fire. The San Bernardino County Fire Department was called in to tamp down smoking piles of debris that were scattered amid downed power lines.
“What we’re seeing here is an incomplete burn situation,” Capt. Doug Miles said as his crew used picks, shovels and rakes to open up piles that just days ago were family homes. The flames laid waste to about 25 blocks, and the “mop up” work is likely to take days.
Anna Noland, 49, was evacuated twice in three days before learning through video footage that her house had burned. She planned to stay at a shelter at Simpson College in Redding
while searching for another place to live.
Noland was among the 38,000 people who evacuated after the Carr Fire roared into the outskirts of Redding in Shasta County. The fatalities included two firefighters and a woman and her two great-grandchildren.
A vehicle problem ignited the fire July 23, but it wasn’t until Thursday that the blaze exploded in size and raced into populated areas west of Redding before entering city limits.
On Saturday, it pushed southwest of Redding, the largest city in the region, toward the tiny communities of Ono, Igo and Gas Point. The fire grew slightly by Sunday afternoon, encompassing 139 square miles.
It is the largest fire burning in California, threatening more than 5,000 structures. The flames were 5 percent contained, but Gouvea said he expected that number to climb Sunday evening.
The fire has destroyed hundreds of homes.
The firefighters killed in that blaze included Don Ray Smith, 81, of Pollock Pines, a bulldozer operator who was helping clear vegetation in the path of the wildfire. Redding Fire Inspector Jeremy Stoke was also killed, but details of his death were not released.
Wildfires around the state have forced about 50,000 people from their homes, said Lynne Tolmachoff, a spokesman for the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
As of Sunday, about 12,000 firefighters were battling 17 significant fires in the state, she said.
About 100 miles southwest of Redding, two blazes that prompted mandatory evacuations in Mendocino County destroyed four homes and threatened more than 4,500 buildings, officials said. They had blackened 39 square miles and were each 5 percent contained.