Redding residents urged to flee as Carr Fire jumps the Sacramento River

Redding residents evacuate as the Carr Fire continues to grow on Thursday.

REDDING – The Carr Fire in Shasta County erupted Thursday night into a conflagration that swept over the Sacramento River and into Redding’s city limits, sending residents fleeing for their lives as flames spread into neighborhoods of rolling hills in the western part of the city.

“The fire has burned into the west side of Redding,” Scott Mclean, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said late Thursday. “Structures are burning.

“The fire is moving so fast that law enforcement is doing evacuations as fast as we can. There have been some injuries to civilians and firefighters.”

Calfire said there had been no reports of fatalities, and no estimate of injuries, but emphasized that the blaze was moving quickly and had burned into neighborhoods around 9 p.m. Thursday after two days of fierce fire activity in the Whiskeytown area west of Redding.

“It’s way too dynamic and burning quickly,” Mclean said of the blaze, which had tripled in size in two days to more than 28,000 acres as of Thursday afternoon.“

The fire erupted Monday afternoon after a vehicle malfunction, Calfire said, and quickly began to devour tinder-dry grass and brush, consuming more than 28,000 acres before jumping the Sacramento River into the city limits.

More than 1,700 firefighters were battling the blaze Thursday afternoon when it suddenly blew up and marched toward the city.

“Right now they’re doing what they can, they’re trying to make a stand where they can, if possible,” Mclean said of firefighters. “It’s extreme. It’s blowing up off and on again.

“It crossed the Sacramento River north of Redding from the reports we got. It’s within the city limits of Redding and it’s in an area of rolling hills, so it’s not house-to-house neighborhoods but it’s burning into Redding and prompting immediate and urgent evacuations.”

The Redding Record-searchlight reported that Calfire had summoned the California National Guard for help, according to dispatchers.

Emergency personnel are reporting on social media that they are stopping structure and containment efforts in north Redding in order to focus on safely evacuating all citizens. A Calfire spokesman could only confirm portions of west Redding were under evacuation.

At 9 p.m., fire personnel requested that Redding Electric Utility shut off power to residents of North Redding. Reports on KRCR-TV, the ABC affiliate in Redding, confirm parts of the city are without power in an effort to prevent electrical equipment from sparking more fires.

Social media reports say that the area of Keswick Dam and Quartz Hill northwest of the city is fully engulfed in flames, with multiple homes and structures burning and many people trapped and unable to drive out of the area due to congestion.

The order was so immediate that traffic is completely stopped on some roads that lead out of the city. Traffic is completely stopped at North Market Street in both directions “at least up to Lake Blvd,” said Redding Record Searchlight reporter Jenny Espino in a tweet.