REDDING, Calif. — Ed Bledsoe left his home in Redding, Calif., on Thursday to run errands while his wife, Melody, and their two great-grandchildren stayed home. Less than an hour later his wife called.

“She said, ‘You need to come home right now. The fire’s right next to our house,’” Mr. Bledsoe told Capital Public Radio.

Ms. Bledsoe and the great-grandchildren, James Roberts, 5, and Emily Roberts, 4, stayed inside as the fire approached, Donald Kewley, the boyfriend of one of the Bledsoes’ granddaughters, said on Saturday.

Over the phone, he said, Mr. Bledsoe heard them “start panicking and screaming.”

The children were “screaming for their lives,” Jason Decker, the boyfriend of another of the Bledsoes’ granddaughters, said. “The kids were saying: ‘Papa, papa, come home. The fire’s at the back door.’”