Massive California wildfire tornado killed firefighter in Redding, officials say

SAN FRANCISCO – Officials say a firefighter who died while helping people evacuate a Northern California blaze was killed by a fire tornado that at one point reached a temperature of 1,480 C.

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The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says in a report that Redding firefighter Jeremy Stoke died after he was enveloped in seconds by a fire tornado with a base the size of three football fields and winds up to 265 kilometres an hour.

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The report released Wednesday says that on July 26 the 37-year-old fire inspector was driving his pickup truck down a Redding road, working on evacuating people.

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READ MORE: Terrifying images show sheer size of raging California wildfires

One minute later he radioed out a “mayday” call saying he was getting burned over, and then his transmissions abruptly stopped.