The California wildfires have continued to cause total devastation as the death toll has risen to five. Two children and their great-grandmother have passed away after the fire ripped through their hometown of Redding, North California.
Five-year-old James Roberts, four-year-old Emily Roberts and 70-year-old Melody Bledsoe deaths were confirmed by the youths’ mum Sherry Bledsoe.
The tragic loss brings the total death toll to five, which is expected to rise.
Such a tragedy. Emily & James Roberts and their Grandmother Melody Bledsoe did not survive the #CarrFire. If you would like to help them, their family has asked us to share their GoFundMe: https://t.co/UZiN0ej80O @ABC10 pic.twitter.com/abcfPZL8wa
— Madison Wade (@madisoncwade) July 28, 2018
Firefighters are doing their best to tackle the blaze, but only five percent of it has been contained so far.
Fire officials explained that strong winds are causing the fires to form fire tornados, making it harder for their teams to tackle.
Chief Ken Pimlott explained to reporters."This fire was whipped up into a whirlwind of activity" by gale-force winds, he said, "uprooting trees, moving vehicles, moving parts of roadways.”
Please keep these Northern California communities outside Redding & Whiskeytown Lake in your thoughts & prayers. I previously served the community of Old Shasta as a volunteer & also a firefighter for CAL FIRE at the Shasta STA #58 in the Shasta-Trinity Unit.#CarrFire ( UNK). pic.twitter.com/AcG7Kk7iH4
— Chris Baker (@instructorbaker) July 26, 2018
He added: “These are extreme conditions... we need to take heed and evacuate, evacuate, evacuate."
The fire broke out on Monday and continued to worsen throughout the week.
On Thursday, the blaze had burnt its way across the wide Sacramento River and torched subdivisions in Redding, a city of 92,000 about 100 miles south of the Oregon border.
Due to the rapid pace of the fire, firefighters focused their efforts on evacuating residents as opposed to tackling the fire.
Fire tornadoes ripping through the town of #Redding as the #CarrFire explodes to nearly 28,000 acres and only 6% contained; Live coverage on #TODAYinLA at 6 on @NBCLA Channel 4 https://t.co/A3ujbLG8Sv pic.twitter.com/817EERbn1s
— Mekahlo Medina (@MekahloNBCLA) July 27, 2018
They had no choice but to refocus their attention to help people escape as the flames moved so rapidly.
Officials say the cause of Monday’s fire was a mechanical issue involving a vehicle.
They have continued to issue evacuation notices as firefighters battle the blaze.
