Flame tornado killed firefighter
It was 1,000 feet wide with 165 mph wind, Cal Fire says
SAN FRANCISCO — A firefighter who died while helping people flee a Northern California blaze was killed by a fire tornado that reached 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit, officials said.
Redding firefighter Jeremy Stoke died after he was enveloped in seconds by a fire tornado with a diameter of 1,000 feet and winds up to 165 mph, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said in a report Wednesday detailing his death and the death of a bulldozer operator.
Videos released with the report show the massive blaze burning in a populated area and sending up a cloud of thick smoke with flames swirling into the sky.
The tornado ripped roofs off houses and flung power line towers, cars and a shipping container into the air near the spot where Stoke was overtaken by the flames, according to the report.
Cal Fire officials said that on July 26, the 37-year-old fire inspector was driving his pickup truck down a Redding road, working on evacuating people. One minute later he radioed out a “mayday” call saying he was getting burned and needed help. When an engine captain tried to contact him shortly after, there was no response, the report said.
Stoke, whose remains were found the following day, was one of eight people killed since the blaze started on July 23 with a spark from a vehicle driving on a flat tire.
The wildfire has destroyed nearly 1,100 homes. It was 71 percent contained as of Thursday.
The report also detailed the death of private bulldozer operator Don Smith, 81, of Pollock Pines, who was killed when his bulldozer was caught in the flames while he was trying to improve a fire line, defending a home during what the officials say were “extraordinary fire weather conditions.”
Smith was outside Redding after 5 p.m. July 26 when firefighters noticed “a rapid increase in fire activity.”
It jumped the fire line, and a Cal Fire crew chief said he made several radio attempts to tell Smith to “get out of there.”
Once the smoke cleared, a pilot saw that Smith’s bulldozer had been engulfed in flames. A fire captain reached the bulldozer two hours later and confirmed that Smith was dead.