The Carr Fire tears through Shasta, Calif., Thursday, July 26, 2018. Fueled by high temperatures, wind and low humidity, the blaze destroyed multiple homes and at least one historic building. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
UPDATE: Friday, July 27th – 3:55pm
Cal Fire is reporting a private bulldozer driver is dead along with a fire inspector and at least three firefighters are injured while battling the Carr Fire burning in Redding. The fire has destroyed 65 homes, damaged 55, threatening nearly 500 structures and has led to mandatory evacuations in parts of Redding and French Gulch. The bulldozer operator’s death and the cause of the blaze both remain under investigation.
As of today, the fire that began Monday near Highway 299 has grown to over 44-thousand acres and is just three percent contained.
That’s Cal Fire Incident Commander Chief Brett Gouvea.
The fire jumped the Sacramento River and moved toward the city that’s home to 92-thousand people. California Governor Jerry Brown has declared states of emergency in Shasta County, where the Carr Fire is burning, and down south in Riverside County. More than three-thousand people there have been evacuated ahead of an intentionally-set fire so powerful it’s creating its own weather system.