California Carr wildfire kills at least 2 and prompts mass evacuations

The Carr Fire has destroyed an untold number of homes in Shasta County in Northern California.

The Carr fire is the most destructive of several major blazes burning around the state of California. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

At least two people died in a wildfire that swept through Northern California, destroying buildings and forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate late Thursday.

The blaze, which killed a bulldozer operator working on fire lines and another firefighter, ripped through the villages of Shasta and Keswick before heading toward Redding, a city of more than 90,000 people. Dubbed the Carr Fire, the wildfire began Monday amid extreme temperatures that are expected to continue for the reminder of the week.

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“We’re battling a fire that is moving extremely quickly and erratically into Western Redding,” Unified Incident Commander Chief Brett Gouvea said in a press conference.

Untold number of homes destroyed

The Carr Fire destroyed an untold number of homes in Shasta County in Northern California, hopscotching into subdivisions Thursday night and Friday morning. Officials said hundreds of homes were threatened as winds pushed the fire into the community.

The blaze had grown to 44,450 acres and was 3% contained Friday morning, Cal Fire said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

On Friday, authorities announced another city firefighter was killed battling the Redding blaze.

Wildfires across the globe

The Carr fire is the most destructive of several major blazes burning around the state of California. In Riverside County, the Cranston fire had burned 7,500 acres and was 5% contained Thursday night. At least five homes have been lost in that fire.

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Globally, at least 170 people have died in fires, floods and heat on three continents in recent weeks. In California, parts of Yosemite National Park were closed and visitors told to flee as a fire raged in the forests and mountains. The blaze, called the Ferguson Fire, has killed at least one person, consumed more than 38,000 acres and is about 25% contained.

Greek firefighters say that at least 74 people were killed in wildfires in the country’s Attica region, which includes Athens, as a summer heatwave has increased the risk of blazes across Europe.

Some 27 fires are currently blazing across Sweden, a country about the size of California that’s two-thirds covered by forests. Sweden’s Forest Agency estimates that some 600 million kronor ($68 million) worth of forest has burned or been damaged by the fires, as of July 19.