Wildfire — Northern Sacramento Valley, California

2018-07-23 to 2018-07-31 · Northern Sacramento Valley, California

Event narrative

The Carr Fire began on the afternoon of July 23, 2018, at the intersection of Highway 299 and Carr Powerhouse Road, near French Gulch in Shasta County. The fire is reported to have been started accidentally by a vehicle towing a trailer that had a tire blow out, causing the steel rim to scrape along the pavement, generating sparks that ignited dry vegetation along the edge of the highway. Local winds generated by the fire are reported to have caused the fire to spread quickly.

At the end of July, the fire was the sixth most destructive fire in California history at 112,888 acres, with 1,378 structures destroyed, 965 of them homes. The fire was not fully contained until August 30, reaching 229,651 acres in size with a total of 1,079 residences, 22 commercial structures, 503 outbuildings destroyed. There were also 190 residences, 26 commercial structures, and 61 outbuildings damaged. About 38,000 people were evacuated from their homes. There were a total of 8 deaths from the fire, 3 of them firefighters. A large fire whirl in Redding has been reported as being responsible for 4 of the deaths, and this has been listed as a separate event. Damage costs to insured buildings are estimated at $1.5 billion for the Carr Fire.

Wider weather episode

Large wildfires developed across Northern California at the end of July during a period of high temperatures, low humidity and unusually dry fuels. A powerful fire whirl developed with the Carr Fire, creating significant wind damage to western Redding and rapid fire growth. The Mendicino Complex became the largest wildfire in California history. A state of emergency was declared at state and federal levels due to the fires.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 774715. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.