California fires run rampant
8 die as blaze turns area into barren wasteland
A young boy died pleading for rescue along with two others in a California wildfire, an anguished relative recounted on Monday, while other shaken survivors told of their flight from a “tornado” of fire.
Thousands of firefighters in California made some progress against several huge blazes that have killed eight fire personnel and civilians, turned about 80,940ha into an ashen wasteland and destroyed expensive homes in the most populous US state.
The worst blaze – northern California’s Carr fire – has killed six people since Thursday, including a 70-year-old woman and her two great-grandchildren, aged five and four.
They perished when flames swallowed their home in Redding. Media identified the woman as Melody Bledsoe and the children, Emily and James Roberts, nicknamed Junior.
“I talked to Junior on the phone until he died,” Melody’s husband Ed Bledsoe told CNN, recounting the last words of the boy, his sister, and Bledsoe’s wife.
“He said: ‘Come and get me, the fire’s comin’ in the back door. Come on, Grandpa’,” Bledsoe said, his voice choking. But he couldn’t get there in time to save them.
“I’ve been a lifelong resident of this community, and I’ve never seen a fire with such destruction here in this area ever before,” said Shasta county supervisor Leonard Moty.
Alyce Macken said she had only minutes to flee with her husband, Ted, from the flames sweeping closer to her home in Redding.
A sheriff’s officer pounded on the door and gave them 15 minutes to leave, Macken said.
“We were out in 10 minutes. I was shaking, it just went by really fast,” the retiree said.
“It was almost like a tornado with fire in it and it came over the hill and wiped out our house, it wiped out our next door neighbour’s home too,” she said.
About 38,000 people had been evacuated in Shasta county due to the Carr fire, officials said, though some evacuation orders have been lifted.
Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump approved California’s request for federal help to fight the blaze and assist evacuees. A thick smoke haze covered a large part of northern California, severely limiting visibility and contributing to breathing problems.
According to the California governor’s office of emergency services, 12,000 firefighters from as far away as Florida and New Jersey have deployed across the state.
A firefighter identified as Brian Hughes died on Sunday while battling the Ferguson fire near Yosemite National Park, a major tourist attraction partially closed because of the fire.
Hughes “was struck and killed by a tree” while fighting the blaze, the Sequoia and Kings National Parks Service said.
Another firefighter died days earlier working at the fire around Yosemite.
The remains of a person who ignored Carr fire evacuation orders was found in a burned-out residence on Sunday, said Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko. Two fire fighters were killed late last week battling the Carr blaze.
Seven other people were reported missing, Bosenko said, adding that 600 National Guard soldiers had been deployed for support duties such as roadblocks. —
“He said: ‘Come and get me, the fire’s comin’ in the back door’”