One the most destructive wildfires in California history, the Carr fire, is still raging with only about 40% of it contained while elsewhere in the state, especially in the north, fires continue to expand.
Overnight a seventh person was reported killed by the Carr fire as another in the north of the state expanded by 25% overnight, leading the White House to declare a "major disaster" in California in a statement on Sunday morning. President Donald Trump has ordered the release of federal funding for recovery efforts.
The deadly Carr fire has scorched more than 145,000 acres as of Sunday morning; and as CNN reports, the wildfire which began on July 23rd was actually caused by a flat tire.
Photo taken Saturday morning. Via Antionio Paris/Twitter
The CNN report details the Carr fire's origins in late July — but one of the 17 currently burning across the state:
It happens countless times on roads across America: a vehicle gets a flat tire, usually just a temporary inconvenience.
But on one road near Redding, California, when a tire failed last month on a trailer and its rim scraped the asphalt, the result was catastrophic for an entire region.
The sparks that shot out July 23 from that minor incident, California fire officials said, ignited what is now the sixth-most destructive wildfire in state history.
The Carr Fire blazed a fiery path along Highway 299, lighting up mile after mile of dry brush as it crept up on residential areas.
One man, Ed Bledsoe, lost his wife and two great-grandchildren, ages 4 and 5, within only a 15 minute time frame.
The man's family were victims of the previously reported "fire tornado," or what some are calling a "firenado" that ripped through Redding, which produced whirling winds of fire in excess of 143 mph.
Fire Tornado as a fire devil over California https://t.co/uEZi5kUlQY pic.twitter.com/rBfZcJCQGb
"The tornado was hovering over the house," Bledsoe's granddaughter Amanda Woodley recounted to CNN. "It was just a tornado fire over the house."
Ed Bledsoe and other family members gave an account of the unbelievable and tragic moments the fire tornado struck :
He said his son drove toward the flames in the hope of rescuing his family members. "My son said the grass wasn't on fire, the trees were getting sucked up in the air and burning," Bledsoe told CNN. "He said when he opened his doors, the leaves hit him like somebody was slapping him. He said it was sucking his breath out, and he got back in his car and tried to get out."
Bledsoe was...