Sunday and Monday mark the anniversary of the Carr Fire reaching the City of Redding. The 2018 fire started at Whiskeytown but took several days to really become ferocious. It eventually burned through nearly 230,000 acres and 1,077 homes, forced the evacuation of 38,000 people and created a fire vortex with wind speeds of more than 165 miles an hour. Redding Fire Inspector Jeremy Stoke died while trying to evacuate residents from their homes when he was overtaken by the fire tornado. The others who died were dozer operator Don Smith, heavy equipment mechanic Andrew Brake, PG&E lineman Jairus Ayeta, Old Shasta resident Daniel Bush, Keswick resident Melody Bledsoe and her two grandchildren, James and Emily Roberts.
– Steve Gibson