Carr Fire: Death toll rises to 6, size of fire doubles

By Umar Farooq

WASHINGTON (AA) - The death toll rose to six in California fire which has been growing in size since Monday, with two firefighters among the casualties.

On Sunday, there were 16 reports of missing people in the Carr Fire and seven are under current investigation, said Shasta County Sherrif Tom Bosenko.

“My sympathy goes out to their families, and for the firefighters and their brothers and sisters,” said Bosenko.

The fire has nearly doubled in size since Friday, with the total size currently at around 89,000 acres.

Speaking at a press briefing, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire, Incident Commander Chief Brett Gueva said that that amount will go down over the next few days.

“We are feeling a lot more optimistic as we are starting to gain some ground,” said Gueva.

In the city of Redding, located in Shasta County, some 50,000 people have been evacuated, according to local media reports. Evacuees have been advised not to repopulate until the fire department can guarantee the area is safe.

Yet, this may pose a problem for many of the residents who want to see if their homes are destroyed or asses any damages to their homes.

As the city of Redding has been evacuated, looting is now a serious problem within the area. There have been multiple incidents, according to the police department of Redding.

“I want the community to know that we care about you and we are moving as fast as we can to get you back in your homes,” said Mike Hebrard, Shasta county fire chief.

Authorities stressed that they have made major strides in setting up containment lines all along the perimeter of the fire, and that now they will be able to contain much more of it over the coming days.

There are currently 17 major fires in the state of California, covering an area of roughly 200,000 acres.