Carr Fire - Black Thursday 26 July 2018

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GrauGeist

Generalfeldmarschall zur Luftschiff Abteilung
A fire started near Whiskeytown Lake in western Shasta county on Monday, 23 July 2018 as a benign brush fire. Fire crews jumped on it and had it close to containment, but on Wednesday 26 July, the humidity suddenly dropped and the winds came up and the fire became uncontrollable.
By the morning of 26 July, it roared eastward, tearing into the old Goldrush town of Shasta, then the old town of Taylor and then consumed the old town of Keswick. By 7 p.m. the evening of the 26th, it was on the western border of the city of Reddingand this time, the fire had already killed 5 people and was poised to claim 3 more.

I had gone to the old Blue Gravel Mine, which was on a plateau on the western edge of Redding at 7:30 that evening, with three cameras (two Pentax DSLRs and a Canon 35mm) to see what was going on.
I had no idea that in the space of 35 minutes, I would see the fire thunder into town fueled by an actual fire tornado, coming to within a half mile of my place by 8:30 that evening.

These are the photos of that fateful evening...

7:43 p.m. - Looking north-west. The dark cloud in the background is an F3 tornado.
IMGP42384[720x479].jpg


7:44 p.m. - looking west by northwest.
IMGP42385[720x479].jpg

7:45 p.m. - the fire-tornado (black cloud in the background) is drawing smoke up from a closer portion of the fire. This is a scan from a 35mm print I took at the time.
Carr-Fire_072618[720x484].jpg

7:47 p.m. - another view to the north-west.
IMGP42386[720x479].jpg


7:48 p.m. - looking west.
IMGP42389[720x479].jpg


7:49 p.m. - the fire is now moving southward into another tract of homes.
IMGP22183[720x477].jpg


7:52 p.m. - a National Guard helicopter is landing at nearby Benton Field.
IMGP42391-ed[720x479].jpg


7:53 p.m. - Looking to the west, the fire is moving fast.
IMGP42392[720x479].jpg


7:59 p.m. - looking to the north, the fire tornado (black cloud) has now scoured several neighborhoods and caused the fire to jump the Sacramento river, putting the Quartz Hill area in jeopardy but it's losing momentum.
IMGP42394[720x479].jpg

8:00 p.m. - the new columns of smoke rise in the devastation caused by the fire tornado (darker cloud to the right).
IMGP22188[720x477].jpg


8:07 p.m. - the fire tornado has "blown out" and the smoke cloud is drifting to the east.
IMGP42399[720x479].jpg


An hour later, about a half mile north of my home...

8:55 p.m.
IMGP22195[720x477].jpg

8:56 p.m.
IMGP42401[720x479].jpg


8:59 p.m.
IMGP22197[720x477].jpg
 
A fire started near Whiskeytown Lake in western Shasta county on Monday, 23 July 2018 as a benign brush fire. Fire crews jumped on it and had it close to containment, but on Wednesday 26 July, the humidity suddenly dropped and the winds came up and the fire became uncontrollable.
By the morning of 26 July, it roared eastward, tearing into the old Goldrush town of Shasta, then the old town of Taylor and then consumed the old town of Keswick. By 7 p.m. the evening of the 26th, it was on the western border of the city of Reddingand this time, the fire had already killed 5 people and was poised to claim 3 more.

I had gone to the old Blue Gravel Mine, which was on a plateau on the western edge of Redding at 7:30 that evening, with three cameras (two Pentax DSLRs and a Canon 35mm) to see what was going on.
I had no idea that in the space of 35 minutes, I would see the fire thunder into town fueled by an actual fire tornado, coming to within a half mile of my place by 8:30 that evening.

These are the photos of that fateful evening...

7:43 p.m. - Looking north-west. The dark cloud in the background is an F3 tornado.
View attachment 505989

7:44 p.m. - looking west by northwest.
View attachment 505990
7:45 p.m. - the fire-tornado (black cloud in the background) is drawing smoke up from a closer portion of the fire. This is a scan from a 35mm print I took at the time.
View attachment 505991
7:47 p.m. - another view to the north-west.
View attachment 505992

7:48 p.m. - looking west.
View attachment 505993

7:49 p.m. - the fire is now moving southward into another tract of homes.
View attachment 505994

7:52 p.m. - a National Guard helicopter is landing at nearby Benton Field.
View attachment 505995

7:53 p.m. - Looking to the west, the fire is moving fast.
View attachment 505996

7:59 p.m. - looking to the north, the fire tornado (black cloud) has now scoured several neighborhoods and caused the fire to jump the Sacramento river, putting the Quartz Hill area in jeopardy but it's losing momentum.
View attachment 505997
8:00 p.m. - the new columns of smoke rise in the devastation caused by the fire tornado (darker cloud to the right).
View attachment 505998

8:07 p.m. - the fire tornado has "blown out" and the smoke cloud is drifting to the east.
View attachment 505999

An hour later, about a half mile north of my home...

8:55 p.m.
View attachment 506000
8:56 p.m.
View attachment 506001

8:59 p.m.
View attachment 506002
Those last three especially are realy unnerving to look at even on a computer screen. We had some big fires down here to( Lake elsinore)but nothing like that.
Main thing is glad your ok.
 
Thanks guys!

It was touch and go for several days. The fire was finally turned back from town only through the grace of God and a super-human effort by first responders. So Redding is out of danger even though the Carr still burns both to the north and to the south, mostly in remote and inaccessible areas.
 

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