A live television station evacuation at KRCR-TV in Redding, California was forced late Thursday night by the quickly expanding wildfire in Shasta County, The Los Angeles Times reported.
After giving live updates for about an hour, the station's new anchors announced at 10:30 p.m. that they were being evacuated because of the approaching fire, but they said their coverage would continue on Facebook.
The Times said the station continued it coverage with field reports being anchored by KRCR's sister station in Eureka, California.
KRCR-TV reported on Friday that two deaths have been connected with the fire, a contracted dozer operator and a Redding firefighter. Cal Fire also announced the evacuation of Shasta Lake along with west Redding neighborhoods.
Cal Fire officials said flames jumped the Sacramento River, allowing it to reach Redding.
"The fire is creating a huge wind vacuum and moving very rapidly toward west Redding," the California Highway Patrol warned on Thursday, according to KCRA-TV. "This fire is out of control. If you see heavy smoke or flames and feel threatened, leave... don't wait for evacuation calls."
The Redding Record Searchlight reported that as of Friday morning the covered 44,450 acres and was three percent contained, down from six percent contained overnight. The newspaper said 15 structures have been damaged according to official records, but that total had not been updated from Thursday evening.
CNN reported that 1,700 firefighters have been trying to corral the blaze since it broke out Monday, but hot and windy weather has allowed the blaze to expand. Some 200 California National Guardsmen have been brought in to help firefighters, Lt. Col. Jonathan Shiroma of the National Guard, told the network.
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