Homes levelled by the Carr Fire line the Lake Keswick Estates area of Redding, California. Photo / AP
Homes levelled by the Carr Fire line the Lake Keswick Estates area of Redding, California. Photo / AP
Fuelled by an incendiary combination of scorching temperatures, dry air and unpredictable winds, the deadly Carr Fire doubled in size to 32,740ha.
The bushfire has forced thousands to flee, torched 500 buildings and killed five people, including three civilians and two firefighters.
Fire Inspector Jeremy Stoke was killed battling the northern California blaze, the Redding Fire Department announced. The other firefighter killed in the blaze was identified as 81-year-old Don Ray Smith, a privately hired bulldozer operator.
Two children and their great-grandmother were killed after they were unable to escape the flames.
The deaths underscored the hazards of a blaze that Cal Fire Chief Brett Gouvea called "extremely dangerous and moving with no regard to what's in its path."
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning, saying fire-favourable conditions would exist until at least Tuesday NZT.
The fire was so strong it was producing wind gusts of up to 80km/h and fire whirlwinds - tornado-like funnels of fire, ash and combustible gas. Smoke from the Carr Fire could be seen from space.
Authorities say the fire started on Tuesday, when a car having some sort of mechanical issue sparked a spreading blaze.
But that slow burn "became very active" later in the week as weather conditions tilted in the fire's favour, Gouvea said.
On Friday, it was burning across 8090ha, fire officials said.
Within 24 hours, it had doubled in size, thwarting efforts to bring it under control. By today, it had surpassed 32,375ha and only 5 per cent of the fire had been contained.
California Governor Jerry Brown, (D), has declared a state of emergency in Shasta County, where Redding sits about two hours south of Oregon, and in other counties where the state battled multiple raging fires.
As the Carr Fire's flames beelined towards populated areas, emergency management officials scrambled to get thousands to safety - and to protect the property they left behind.
Before the blaze engulfed a home on Quartz Hill Road, Melody Bledsoe and her great-grandchildren Emily and James Roberts called loved ones in a panic.
"She was screaming, "It's getting closer," and you could hear the sirens," Donald Kewley, the boyfriend of Bledsoe's granddaughter, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "Then the phone went dead."
A structure burns as the Carr fire races along Highway 299 near Redding, California. Photo / AP
When the Bledsoe family returned to the home, there was no sign of Melody Bledsoe or Emily and James Roberts, and Kewley said that the neighbourhood had been "obliterated."
Ed Bledsoe, Melody's husband, searched evacuation shelters in vain. Today, Bledsoe told the AP, that police had notified him that his wife and great-grandchildren were dead.
The weather was impeding firefighters' efforts to make a dent in the blaze. Forecasts for the weekend said temperatures could approach 43C, the Weather Service said. The humidity hovered around 5 to 10 per cent.
The result, warned the National Weather Service: "Dangerous and rapid irregular spreading of a large wildfire threatening life and property."
For people in affected or threatened areas, the message was simple: Leave.
Residents described a sense of confusion as the fire continued to burn closer. Amber Bollman said she and her husband, Tim, received mandatory evacuation notices at their home near the Sacramento River - followed by notices saying they did not have to leave their home, but should be prepared to do so.
Since 2012, according to officials, there has not been a month in California without a wildfire burning — a stark contrast to previous decades https://t.co/xiGR2LIusA
"We have about 10 firefighters who live in the neighbourhood and they were saying as long as it didn't jump the river, we'd be safe," Bollman said. "We know [the fire personnel] were doing their best, but there was definitely a lack of communication about how rapidly it was coming."
They packed up some of their things and headed east to her parent's house in Shingletown. Tim Bollman and his 14-year-old son, Jack, went back for more. With Jack recording video, they followed fire personnel out of their neighborhood and saw flames surrounding the truck as they left, she said.
Bollman said they found out that their home had been lost.
"You get as much as you can, you get out with your life, but your home is so much a part of you that you can't replace," she said. "It's material, but we have nothing. We have our lives and family and friends, but we just feel lost."
Michelle Harrington, a teacher who lives near the Bollmans, said she and her husband packed things up in their car. They were watching the evening news when her sister texted that flames were coming over the ridge.
"We opened the garage door and it was like a hurricane; the trees were bent over and garbage cans were blowing down the street," Harrington said. "I thought we were going to die. I didn't know if we were going to get out of there."
They escaped to her parent's house on the east side of Redding. Without knowing what happened to their home, Harrington said they have begun wondering what they will do next.
"We're already thinking long term - where do you go? How long before we have a home again?' she asked.
Complicating matters for California's firefighters: They were battling multiple bushfires across the tinder-dry state.
More than 480km southeast of Redding, the Ferguson Fire forced Yosemite National Park officials to close the Yosemite Valley and Wawona parts of the park on July 25. The blaze has burned across nearly 20,000ha since mid-July and was 29 per cent contained.
A firefighter, Braden Varney, was killed on July 16 when the bulldozer he was using to create a fire break overturned and rolled down a ridge, according to the US Fire Administration.
Winds reaching 60 mph are creating firenadoes strong enough to overturn vehicles, authorities say, as deadly Carr Fire tears through Northern California. https://t.co/MIAnmM3TfNpic.twitter.com/xnD70n6Mvt
