Carr Fire - 2,000 Degrees And Counting
Reader's Digest US|October 2019
Half inferno, half cyclone, the Carr Fire burned as hot as 2,700 degrees and packed winds that turned trucks into wayward missiles. Would anyone caught inside it survive?
Lizzie Johnson
Carr Fire - 2,000 Degrees And Counting

Death blew east on a savage wind, driving flames over foothills and across a river, spitting glowing embers and scrubbing the earth bare. It was coming for Don Andrews.

The firestorm shook the ground and roared as loud as a passing train. The windows on Andrews’s bulldozer shattered, flinging glass into his face. The blue-green shards were everywhere: on the floor, inside his helmet, in his skin and eyes. He was alone and blinded.

I’m not going to survive this, he thought.

Andrews, 60, wasn’t supposed to be this close to the edge. He’d been hired that day, July 26, 2018, by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) to work with two other bulldozer drivers to carve a thick ring of dirt around a subdivision of homes near the city of Redding. It was a fairly routine assignment—the containment lines were three dozer blades wide and designed to halt the advance of the wildfire, which was still miles away.

What Andrews didn’t know was that the Carr Fire—to that point a rather ordinary California blaze—had spawned something monstrous: a fire tornado the likes of which the state had never seen.

A freak of meteorology, it would annihilate everything in its path, uprooting trees and crumpling electrical towers. It was a vortex of air wrapped around a column of rising heat, flames licking its unseen walls.

Andrews hunkered down. He gripped the dozer’s protective foil curtains closed with his left hand to keep the wind from batting them open. With his right hand, he pulled his shirt over his nose and mouth. The heat seared his throat.

Temperatures within the tornado soared to 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit. A nearby Cal Fire truck exploded.

Andrews dialed 911. His singed hands trembled. A dispatcher answered, on the verge of tears. Dozens of others had phoned in already, describing the unfolding hell.

This story is from the October 2019 edition of Reader's Digest US.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the October 2019 edition of Reader's Digest US.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM READER'S DIGEST USView All
GOTCHA!
Reader's Digest US

GOTCHA!

We asked for it: What's the best prank you ever pulled?

time-read
3 mins  |
March/April 2024
KITT THE COURAGEOUS K-9
Reader's Digest US

KITT THE COURAGEOUS K-9

Officer Bill Cushing needed a partner. His dog needed a purpose. Together, they rescued each other.

time-read
9 mins  |
March/April 2024
Let's Dance!
Reader's Digest US

Let's Dance!

It's good for your body, soul and even your brain

time-read
6 mins  |
March/April 2024
DISASTER ON THE RIVER
Reader's Digest US

DISASTER ON THE RIVER

Two canoeists struggle to keep themselves and their friendship-afloat

time-read
9 mins  |
March/April 2024
WHAT HAPPENS TO ALL THE STUFF WE RETURN
Reader's Digest US

WHAT HAPPENS TO ALL THE STUFF WE RETURN

Think your rejects go back on the shelves? Think again.

time-read
10 mins  |
March/April 2024
Words to Live By
Reader's Digest US

Words to Live By

Poems offered me an anchor as I lost my son, so I shared them

time-read
4 mins  |
March/April 2024
LOST, FOUND, HOMEWARD BOUND
Reader's Digest US

LOST, FOUND, HOMEWARD BOUND

A collection of heart-thumping, tail-wagging, zoomies-inducing pet reunion tales

time-read
10 mins  |
March/April 2024
Paging Dr. AI
Reader's Digest US

Paging Dr. AI

IF YOU'VE EVER Googled symptoms (and who hasn't?), you've probably scared yourself with a dire diagnosis, with no doctor there to vet the source and put the information in context. But we can't help ourselves. So can AI help?

time-read
1 min  |
March/April 2024
The HEALTHY WELLNESS FROM THEHEALTHY.COM
Reader's Digest US

The HEALTHY WELLNESS FROM THEHEALTHY.COM

A vaccine is finally on the way. In the meantime, here's how to protect yourself from ticks.

time-read
2 mins  |
March/April 2024
How to Speak Like a Midwesterner
Reader's Digest US

How to Speak Like a Midwesterner

FROM THE BOOK A GUIDE TO MIDWESTERN CONVERSATION

time-read
3 mins  |
March/April 2024