Deadly California wildfire ‘taking down everything in its path’

(ABC News) — A raging wildfire in Northern California that swelled in size overnight has killed two people and injured at least three firefighters, officials said Friday.

The Carr Fire in Shasta County has since claimed the lives of a bulldozer operator and a city of Redding firefighter, according to officials from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the U.S. National Park Service and the Shasta County Sheriff’s Office.

The “mechanical failure of a vehicle” ignited the blaze in Whiskeytown Monday, officials said. The fire had burned an area of more than 44,000 acres by Friday morning, with a containment of just 3 percent.

The flames ripped through northwest Shasta County then spread southeast, sweeping across the Sacramento River overnight and roaring toward the city limits of Redding, which is home to 92,000.

At least 15 homes, businesses and other structures have been destroyed by the fast-moving fire, while five others have been damaged. Another 496 structures remain threatened, officials said.

The blaze is “taking everything down in its path,” and the situation on the scene is “very dynamic” and “a heck of a fight,” Scott McLean, a spokesman for the crews battling the Carr Fire, told The Associated Press.

Gusty winds reaching 60 mph are fanning the flames and creating fire tornadoes, or “firenadoes,” that move erratically and are strong enough to overturn vehicles “like toys,” McLean told reporters at a news conference late Thursday.

Officials have ordered road closures and the evacuation of thousands of homes threatened by the Carr Fire. The California Highway Patrol is going door to door to assist, Sgt. Tim Hinkson told reporters.