One killed in raging California wildfire as residents race to flee
(Reuters) - One person was killed in a raging, out-of-control wildfire that sent residents racing to flee a northern California city on Friday as flames burned homes and businesses and knocked out power, fire officials said.
Smoke and flames are seen as a wildfire spreads through Redding, California, the U.S., July 26, 2018, in this still image taken from a video obtained from social media. Cody Markhart/via REUTERS
A bulldozer operator was killed in the so-called Carr Fire, a blaze in Shasta County, which has tripled in size in the last two days to 28,000 acres (11,300 hectares), the state’s forestry and fire protection department said.
The blaze has crossed the Sacramento River and now threatens hundreds of homes on the western fringes of the city of Redding, the Sacramento Bee said.
“The fire is moving so fast that law enforcement is doing evacuations as fast as we can. There have been some injuries to civilians and firefighters,” California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Scott McLean told the newspaper.
“It’s way too dynamic and burning quickly.”
Local and state fire officials were not available to confirm details of injuries.
Roads out of the city of 90,000 people were jammed with motorists trying to escape the flames, social media postings showed.
Multiple power outages were reported, the city said on its website, adding that the electric utility was shutting off power in its northern areas.
Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez
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