REDDING: Firefighters say 500 structures have been destroyed in a raging Northern California wildfire and another 5,000 are threatened.
Cal Fire released the updated figure yesterday, though the number of homes burned in the so-called Carr Fire is expected to increase.
Earlier yesterday, fire officials said 65 structures had been destroyed by the fast-moving blaze in Shasta County. The blaze grew to 194 square kilometers by last night.
It began Monday with a mechanical failure of a vehicle. The 45-square-mile (115-square-kilometer) fire that began Monday tripled in size overnight Thursday amid scorching temperatures, low humidity, and windy conditions, Cal Fire said.
Flames swept through the communities of Shasta and Keswick before jumping the Sacramento River on Thursday and reaching Redding, a city of about 92,000 people and the largest in the region. Tens of thousands of people fled the city in fear of their lives from the blaze, which has killed two firefighters.