The Carr Fire broke out on Monday after a vehicle blew a tire, sparking dry grass nearby. It has been growing ever since, burning through smaller towns in its way. Late last night, the fire jumped the Sacramento river and is now threatening the city of Redding, which has a population of nearly one hundred thousand people, roughly a third of whom have had to evacuate so far.
Fire officials said they’d never seen a fire like this. Normally, the Sacramento River provides a natural barrier to help firefighters protect Redding, however with walls of flame as high as 100 feet and high speed winds, some being generated by the fire itself, there was little that could be done aside from evacuating residents.