Carr Fire has grown to nearly 100k acres, firefighters no longer 'in the defensive mode'

Show Caption Hide Caption See where the Carr Fire destroyed homes in Sunset West area A drive through Sunset West, Sunset Avenue and Sunset Court areas shows which homes were lost to the Carr Fire.

Despite discovering another Carr Fire fatality, firefighting officials were mostly upbeat about progress they made on the blaze Sunday, with “no movement” of the fire in the city of Redding.

“I can tell you we are making great strides every day,” said Carr Fire incident commander Bret Gouvea. “We are very encouraged with the fire status in the city of Redding,” he said, noting there was no fire movement there on Sunday.

He did not give a definite date, but officials said some residents might soon get to return to their homes.

“We’re feeling a lot more optimistic today as we are starting to gain some ground rather than be in the defensive mode all the time on this fire,” Gouvea said. “You’re going to see repopulation in the city of Redding very soon.”

While the fire was not moving as fast as it was last week, it did continue to grow in some remote areas, he said. Still, from Saturday to Sunday, the fire grew only 6 percent, compared with doubling in size on Friday.

As of Sunday, the fire was 95,368 acres, with 17 percent containment and 874 buildings destroyed — 657 of them homes. Another 5,012 buildings were still threatened by fire.

Thousands still remained evacuated from large portions of Redding and surrounding communities.

Meanwhile, another fatality was discovered in a burnt home on Sunday, Sheriff Tom Bosenko said. He did not want to say where the person was found until the body had been identified and family had been notified, but he did say the body was found in a home where officers had ordered an evacuation.

So far, that makes for six people who have been killed in the blaze: two firefighters and four civilians. The number for the Redding Police Department's missing-persons hotline is 530-225-4277.

So far, 16 people have been reported missing, but nine of them are considered no longer missing. Seven people remain unaccounted for, Bosenko said.

Keeping it in Shasta County

Outside Redding, the fire continued to make a push to the west and away from populated areas, Gouvea said.

Fire officials had set up boundary goals for the fire Sunday: Cottonwood Creek in the south and Dog Creek Road near Vollmers in the north.

In the west, the goal was to keep the fire east of the Trinity County line, and on the east side, firefighters are trying to keep the fire west of Interstate 5.

On Saturday, the fire made a big run to the south from Whiskeytown to the Igo-Ono area, said Steve Crawford, operations section chief on the Carr Fire. By Sunday, the fire had dropped down to lower elevations, moving out of the brushy hills and down into grass, where crews could get a handle on it, he said.

On the western side of the fire, it slopped over the county line in one spot south of Highway 299 on Sunday, he said.

The fire did not make any runs on the northern section of the fire or in the eastern sector (in the city of Redding), except for some spot fires the blaze that were held in check.

“It’s constantly picking little spots where it’s a thorn in our side and we’re making progress on this piece down here,” he said pointing to an area on a fire map where the spot fires have popped up near Redding.

Spot fires continue to flare up

Firefighters saved all but one home on Blarney Lane on Saturday, a wooded neighborhood off Placer Road in Redding.

But signs of the firefight remained a day after flames from the Carr Fire made a run at the roughly half-dozen homes tucked back from the street.

Spent fire hoses — hastily disconnected from hydrants — were still set up along the lane and spliced off onto properties near the end of the street, where flames came closest to homes.

The destroyed house sat at the top of a hill at the very end of Blarney Lane. Standing in the cul-de-sac at the end of the street Saturday, you could watch flames spilling out of the home's second story windows and above its roofline through a gap in the trees.

On Sunday, that roofline was gone.

A walk up the home's drive is now perilous. Dead, dying and charred trees arch over the entry; branches crack and occasionally fall onto the path.

The flames advanced down the hill from the home and charred areas as far as front yards, but firefighters from San Bruno assigned to the area Saturday stopped flames there.

Map: Carr Fire progression

Looting an issue

Away from the firefighting, Redding police are dealing with looting in areas that have been evacuated.

One man was arrested Saturday on suspicion of looting, Redding Police Chief Roger Moore said.

Mitchell B. Stuebgen was arrested around 10:45 p.m. Saturday after police found him in an evacuated part of Lake Boulevard, according to a Redding police news release.

Police said Stuebgen, wearing camouflage, was carrying a loaded handgun, a billy club, nunchucks and a concealed dagger. According to police, Stuebgen is prohibited from carrying a firearm.

He was taken to Shasta County Jail on Saturday night; however, on Sunday he was not listed on the county jail website.

Moore said that no one should be in the evacuation areas unless they are doing work associated with the fire. People found in the area of the fire without a good reason are likely to face arrest, Moore said.

“If we don’t arrest you for looting we will arrest you for something else,” Moore said. “It’s a concern of mine, and we are taking it seriously.”

Hot days ahead

Weather continued to be a challenge for firefighters on Sunday. The National Weather Service issued a “Red Flag Warning” because of hot and windy conditions.

The temperature reached 103 degrees on Sunday, taxing firefighters out on the line, officials said.

Firefighters also said the weather was creating an inversion layer most days, keeping smoke and heat trapped over the fire in the morning and early afternoon, with the inversion blowing off later in the day, helping to push the fire.

Smoke is “socking in” much of the areas east and south of the fire, which includes Redding, officials said.

But the resulting cooling may not last, forecasters warned. It’s like the lid on a fire, and as it dissipates through the day “you are going to take the lid off the pot and it’s going to start cooking," one official explained.

The heat was expected to continue for the rest of this week, but the Red Flag Warning was expected to be lifted Monday morning.

Evacuation Centers

For those forced out of their homes, several evacuation centers have been set up in Shasta and Trinity Counties:

· Foothill High School in Palo Cedro, 9733 Deschutes Road.

· Simpson University in Redding, 2211 College View Drive.

· Valley Christian Center in Anderson, 2831 Freeman St.

· Grace Baptist Church in Redding, 3782 Churn Creek Road.

· Trinity High School in Weaverville, 321 Victory Lane.

· Crosspointe Community Church in Redding, 2960 Hartnell Ave.