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The Carr Fire has scorched Northern California with singular intensity since it broke out on July 23, displacing thousands of people in Shasta County and decimating parts of the bucolic town of Redding.

The fire took a particularly nightmarish turn when what locals are calling a fire tornado, documented in video footage and first-person accounts, tore through neighborhoods in the town of Redding, which has a population of more than 90,000.

Powerful winds pulled trees out of the ground, flung cars and engulfed nearby buildings in flames. All that was left were petrified trees and hollowed out homes. In some areas, the heat and wind grew so intense that there is no more soil on the ground, just charred bedrock. The winds, according to the National Weather Service, reached speeds “in excess of 143 miles per hour.”

The Carr Fire is still burning and it is only 41 percent contained, shifting westward from Redding. Residents are now slowly being allowed to return and assess the damage. Some have lost everything.

The remains of a row of houses on Menlo Way, a street in the Lake Keswick Estates area, which was devastated by the Carr fire. Niko Koppel/The New York Times

The scale of the destruction is hard to comprehend. Nearly 40,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes at the height of the wildfire's assault on Redding. It has burned more than 142,000 acres of land, destroying 1,073 homes and damaging an additional 190. Six fatalities have been reported, though that number could rise once a complete assessment of the damage can be conducted.

The Lake Keswick Estates area, among the very worst hit in Redding, is barely recognizable. All that is left in some homes are burned out refrigerators, washing machines and bed frames.