A CBS News reporter was rocked by at least two explosions while gathering video for his Friday story.
David Begnaud said he was standing in front of a storage facility in Paradise, Calif., when there was an explosion behind him. Begnaud had been speaking with a California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) expert moments earlier.
READ MORE: Paradise, California ‘destroyed’ by out-of-control Camp Fire
“We’d just discussed safety checks with our team: falling trees & power lines. We were careful,” Begnaud posted on Twitter. “An explosion was the one box I hadn’t checked in my mind.”
Begnaud was in Paradise covering the devastation the town has endured from a wildfire that was reported around daybreak Thursday. Within six hours, it had grown to more than 69 square kilometres.
Butte County CalFire Chief Darren Read said at a news conference that two firefighters and multiple residents were injured.
Cal Fire Capt. Scott McLean estimated that a couple thousand structures were destroyed in the town of 27,000 residents.
CBS reports that Begnaud was able to record his standup safely and his story aired on schedule.
— With files from the Associated Press