CAL FIRE reports 500 structures have been destroyed
(Originally published at 9:10 a.m. PDT July 28, 2018)
The Carr Fire, posted July 28 by the Igo Ono Fire Department.
Firefighters on Friday were able to minimize any additional growth of the Carr Fire into Redding but the fire spread significantly on the north and sides. Thursday night CAL FIRE reported the fire had burned 28,000 acres. A 1:45 a.m. mapping flight on Saturday showed it had expanded to over 80,000 acres.
To see all articles about the Carr Fire on Wildfire today including the most current, click here.
Early Saturday morning the fire was very active two to five miles south of Highway 299 burning toward Placer Road near Igo, and on the north side of 299 it had grown five miles north of French Gulch.
Map showing the perimeter of the Carr Fire at 1:45 a.m. PDT July 28, 2018. The yellow line was the perimeter 25 hours before. Click to enlarge.
Mandatory evacuations affecting 37,000 people and road closures are in effect for numerous locations around Redding.
Two firefighters were killed in the fire. Friday afternoon the Redding Fire Department confirmed that Inspector Jeremy Stoke perished. A bulldozer operator has not yet been identified.
A spokesperson for Mercy Medical Center in Redding, Mike Mangas, said eight people, including three firefighters, were treated for injuries. All were expected to survive.
Map showing the east side of the Carr Fire near Redding at 1:45 a.m. PDT July 28, 2018. The yellow line was the perimeter 25 hours before. Click to enlarge.
CAL FIRE reports that 500 structures have been destroyed, but has not broken them down by residences and outbuildings. On Friday an Associated Press reporter counted at least 125 burned homes. Typically on fires like this about 60 to 80 percent of “structures” destroyed are sheds, detached garages, or similar outbuildings.
Below is an excerpt from an AP article:
Located on the western side of Redding, KRCR-TV was forced to go off the air and evacuate their studio in the middle of a Thursday night broadcast. As the fire advanced, a high school that was used to shelter evacuees was suddenly in danger of being in the path of the flames, and evacuees had to move again to Shasta College, according to NBC News.
“When it hit, people were really scrambling,” Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean told the AP. “There was not much of a warning.”
The fire also reportedly burned structures in Shasta, located 10 miles west of Redding, and in Keswick. Early Friday morning, the entire town of Shasta Lake, population 10,000 was ordered to evacuate, the Redding Record Searchlight reported.
The weather forecast for the south part of the Carr Fire near Igo for Saturday calls for a high of 110 degrees, 11 percent relative humidity, and variable winds at 5 to 10 mph gusting up to 13. The conditions should remain about the same through Friday of next week, but with decreasing winds. High temperatures will be above 100 each day.
Red Flag Warning for the area around Redding, California.
The Red Flag Warning that was in effect for the Redding area on Friday is still in effect Saturday and is due to expire at 10 a.m. Monday.
Details of the Red Flag Warning for the Redding area, current at 6:45 a.m. PDT July 28, 2018.
Today at 2 p.m. MDT the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group (NMAC) raised the preparedness level to the maximum of 5, due to large fire and initial attack activity, increasing mobilization, and competition for resources. Significant wildland fire potential is above normal in all or large portions of California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, and northwest Montana.
Large destructive fires are currently burning in Southern California, Northern California, Southwest Oregon, and Utah.
Nationally 527 hand crews and a total of 0ver 20,000 personnel are assigned to fires. These are very large numbers that are not reached every year.
“A significant amount of initial and extended attack and large fire activity has occurred over the past several days as a result of lightning storms that have intensified local and geographic response,” said Dan Smith, chair of NMAC. “Given the continuing hot and dry weather and the increase in fire activity in the western U.S., the decision to move to Preparedness Level 5 depicts the complexity that fire managers are encountering to assure that adequate firefighting resources are available for protection of life, property and our nation’s natural resources.”
To date over 4,151,098 million acres of federal, tribal, state, and private land in the United States has burned this year, compared to the ten-year to date average 3,645,013 acres.
July 23 Preparedness Level Poll. Wildfire Today.
Earlier this week we conducted a poll, asking our readers which week they thought the Preparedness Level would be raised to 5. The week of July 22 was the sixth most popular answer with 8 percent of the votes.
At least 90 Oregon Army National Guard Soldiers participated in a firefighting training exercise at the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training in Salem, Oregon, August 28, 2017. Photo distributed by USFS.
During PL-5, further assistance from the military, beyond what is already in use, and international resources may be considered and requested, and agency personnel in other positions may be activated for fire duty, but no decisions have been made concerning those steps. In 2017, 200 soldiers from bases in Washington were assigned to the Umpqua North Complex fires in Oregon for 30 days.
The last time the National Preparedness Level was raised to 5 was August 10, 2017. It remained at PL-5 for 40 days until it was dropped to 4 on September 18, 2017. This is the fourth time that PL-5 has been reached in the last ten years.
This is the forecast for wildfire smoke at 5 p.m. PDT Friday July 27. Wildfires in Oregon and California are producing large quantities of smoke that will impact southwest Oregon and much of California and Nevada. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Two firefighters have been killed while fighting the fire
(UPDATED at 6:16 p.m. PDT July 27, 2018)
Map showing the perimeter of the Carr Fire (the red line) based on an infrared mapping flight at 12:34 a.m. PDT July 27, 2018. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 1:36 p.m. PDT July 27, 2018. Click to enlarge.
To see all articles about the Carr Fire on Wildfire today including the most current, click here.
An Associated Press reporter has counted at least 125 homes destroyed by the Carr Fire at Redding, California. The official count from CAL FIRE is 65 structures destroyed.
To see all articles about the Carr Fire on Wildfire today including the most current, click here.
Over 800 California National Guard personnel are assisting statewide in a variety of ways. The National Guard is also operating a Reaper Unmanned Aerial System, or drone, that provides real time imagery to help firefighters on the ground to make better decisions.
At least two California National Guard C-130 aircraft have been activated and outfitted with Modular Airborne FireFighting Systems (MAFFS), able to drop up to 3,000 gallons of retardant.
Many areas around Redding are under mandatory evacuation orders.
(UPDATED at 10:09 a.m. PDT July 27, 2018)
CAL FIRE, the National Park Service, and the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office announced at 7:15 a.m. Friday July 27 that a second firefighter has died on the Carr Fire near Redding California. Pending notification of next of kin, they have not released the person’s name, only that the firefighter worked for the Redding Fire Department.
Earlier Friday morning CAL FIRE reported that a contractor operating a dozer had been killed.
An update at 8:10 a.m Friday from CAL FIRE included the information that the Carr Fire has destroyed 65 structures, but did not indicate whether any of them were residences. The agency is now calling it 44,450 acres, up from the 28,000 figure released Thursday night.
The weather forecast for the northwest side of Redding for Friday calls for 102 degrees, heat index of 108, single-digit relative humidity, and variable winds 3 to 13 mph. Similar conditions are expected through Monday. The lack of strong winds and zero chance of thunderstorms is good news for firefighters, but the heat and low relative humidity will continue to be a problem. A Red Flag Warning is in effect Friday for the fire area.
The two fires are burning southeast of Hemet, California
(UPDATED at 5:20 a.m. PDT July 27, 2018)
Below is an updated map of the Cranston Fire, showing data collected at 10:49 PDT July 26. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Map of the Cranston Fire, showing data collected at 10:49 PDT July 26. Click on the image to see a larger version. Product of the Incident Management Team.
(UPDATED at 4:03 p.m. PDT July 26, 2018)
The view of the Cranston and Ribbon Fires, from High Point at 3:29 p.m. PDT July 26, 2018.
Now instead of one huge convection column of smoke on the San Bernardino National Forest southeast of Hemet, California there are two. The second fire, named Ribbon, was discovered around mid-day Thursday. Air tankers were sent to the new fire to hopefully knock it down and keep it from becoming a second major fire. Firefighters on the ground and in the air did slow it down, but priorities on the Cranston Fire and a shortage of lead planes and air tankers resulted some aircraft moving to the Cranston Fire. The Ribbon Fire later picked up in intensity and developed a large smoke column 10 miles southeast of the Cranston Fire. The Ribbon Fire is northwest of the small community of Ribbonwood off Highway 74.
Late Thursday afternoon a spokesperson for the San Bernardino National Forest said the Cranston Fire has burned approximately 7,500 acres.
#RibbonFire – VLATs are being redirected back to the #CranstonFire, the Ribbon incident will get some back when a new lead plane comes over the area, which is in approx 3 hours.
Map showing the location of the Cranston and Ribbon Fires. The dots represent heat detected by a satellite as late as 3:51 p.m. PDT July 26, 2018. Click to enlarge.
Firefighters on the Cranston Fire Thursday afternoon were very concerned about the convection column collapsing, which would create a powerful downdraft, possibly resulting in a dramatic and sudden change of wind direction — a very dangerous situation, pushing the fire in new directions. Supervisors were warned to maintain close accountability of their personnel and to be prepared to withdraw on very short notice. Firefighters 10 miles away on the Ribbon Fire might even be affected by the collapse of the large column. Continue reading “New fire starts 10 miles away from the Cranston Fire”
