‘This fire’s getting so big’: California blaze grows 35%

Residents flee as winds rage, pushing flames across 127 square miles

REDDING, Calif. – The winds driving a tornadic wildfire in Northern California temporarily aided firefighters Saturday by keeping it from more populated areas, but also unleashed the flames at a frightening pace into communities dotting the southwest of Redding, forcing chaotic overnight evacuations.

At the same time, fire officials warned, winds were likely to shift again, driving the runaway flames back toward Redding, with a population around 92,000.

“We’re not getting a break with the weather,” said Chris Anthony, a spokesman for Cal Fire, the state agency responsible for fighting wildfires. “It just continues to be really hot, really dry and we continue to get those winds. … This fire’s getting so big and there are so many different parts to it.”

To communities southwest of the city, the message overnight from the Igo Ono Fire Department was blunt: “Time to go now. Leave Igo take your pets time to go.”

President Donald Trump issued an emergency declaration for California on Saturday, allowing counties affected by wildfires to receive federal assistance. The White House said the declaration will open up the availability of necessary equipment and resources from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Igo and nearby Ono and Gaspoint were just three more communities standing in the path of the voracious blaze in Northern California that has destroyed 500 structures, making it unofficially one of the top 20 most destructive California wildfires.

The fire, driven by howling winds, grew by about 35 percent overnight to 127 square miles. About 37,000 people are under evacuation orders, 5,000 homes are threatened and the fire is just 5 percent contained.

The so-called Carr Fire was ignited Monday by a vehicle malfunction and exploded Thursday night, jumped the Sacramento River and pushed into Redding, about 250 miles north of San Francisco.

At least two people have died battling the fire.

One was identified as Jeremy Stoke, a fire inspector for the Redding Fire Department. The other was a private bulldozer operator.

“We’re seeing, literally almost what can be described as a tornado occurred over this fire yesterday,” Cal Fire Chief Ken Pimlott told reporters. “The fire was whipped up into a whirlwind of activity.”

The winds, temperatures above 100 degrees and dry vegetation have the potential to speed the fire’s growth, Cal Fire officials said.

Homes leveled by the wind-whipped Carr Fire line the Lake Keswick Estates area of Redding, Calif., on Friday. One fire official said almost “a tornado occurred over this fire.”