Carr Fire Devastates Taking Lives Whilst Scorching California

carr fire
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Carr Fire

Over 3,400 firefighters are battling the intense Carr Fire in Northern California. Also, there are least 100 more helping the evacuation. Due to strong winds, the fire has become difficult to contain causing increased blazes.

There is confirmation that the Carr Fire has already taken six lives, including a firefighter, and a bulldozer operator who was working to evacuate the homes and help extinguish the flames.

In wake of this tremendous fire, at least seven people who were declared missing have yet to be found. As a result, they have been not been identified dead or alive as the fire engulfed over 100,000 acres of land by Sunday night, July 30, 2018.

The cause of the relentless wildfire and rising firenadoes is due to the dryness and extreme heat, as described by meteorologist Evan Duffey.

Due to this fire’s intensity, only 17 percent has been contained by firefighter personnel. With raging winds and tornadoes, trees have been uprooted in the chaos. It is also damaging the roads that the rescue crew workers used while trying to control the increasing inferno.

As 14 large fires encroached upon the homes in Northern California, President Trump issued an emergency declaration for the state on Saturday, July 28, allowing counties affected by the wildfires to receive federal assistance.

Several fires have been spotted outside of Yosemite National Park and in the San Jacinto Mountains, which have scorched more than 100 square miles of land thus far. With at least a dozen other large fires spread across California, resources for those in need are stretched thin.

In the residential areas of Redding, Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said he and his department made door-to-door notifications for people to evacuate.

Those people are just now being allowed back into the Redding area because of the increasing control using fire breaks and back burns. Unfortunately, in these conditions it is imperative that citizens remaine aware that the wildfire could once again increase due to weather and other environmental events.

Not only is it an emotional time for those that have lost their homes, there is now a problem of looters. There have been arrests of several men who were reported driving through evacuated areas and breaking down the doors of houses not yet touched by the flames in order to steal the residents’ valuable possessions.

As the fire tore through the area, many residents were forced to gather necessities and leave as fast as they could.

Many tragedies in the Carr Fire have befallen families, including the reports of a grandfather who was unable to get to his great-grandchildren. His wife heard their last words over the phone.

Written by Brielle R. Buford
Edited by Cathy Milne

Sources:

CBS News: Man who wife, great-grandchildren in Carr Fire recalls their heartbreaking final words
CBS News: California wildfire kills 2 children, great-grandmother
USA Today: Intense heat, ‘firenadoes’ fuel deadly Carr Fire in California
CNN: Carr Fire in California is so hot it’s creating its own weather system
USA Today: ‘Like a war zone’: Neighborhoods leveled, looting reported in huge California fire; death toll at 5

Featured Image Courtesy of Kevin Abel for Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washingtons’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Top Image Courtesy of Tony Salas’ Flickr Page – Creative Commons License

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