Carr Fire latest: How many homes destroyed? How far has wildfire spread?

The Carr fire in California’s Shasta County has now spread to 121,049 acres and killed six people.

Authorities have been tackling the blaze since Monday, July 23 after it began when a vehicle malfunctioned.

The blaze is now at 35 percent containment and has destroyed 1,058 homes, 13 commercial structures and destroyed 475 other structures.

The blaze has scorched an area the size of Los Angeles and is considered to be the sixth most destructive fire in California history, according to Cal Fire. 

The fire doubled in size on July 28, almost a week after it started. 

As many as 38,000 residents have been evacuated from their homes under evacuation orders at the height of the fire. 

Evacuations have been lifted for residents who live on Placer Road West just west of Plateau Circle, from Boston Avenue to the intersection of Swasey Drive.

Six people have died in the blaze, including three members of the same family, two firefighters and a man who defied an evacuation order. 

How far has Carr wildfire spread?

Firefighters are starting to make progress reducing the fire’s impact, aided for a third straight day by diminished winds.

Crews have extended buffer lines carved out of thick, dry brush along the fire’s edge to 35 percent of its perimeter, with partial containment lines continuing even farther, officials said.

Cal Fire Deputy Chief Bret Gouvea said: “We are making good progress on the fire.”

But crews “still have quite a bit of work to do” to shore up containment lines. 

The fire was still active in certain spots on Wednesday afternoon, but was not running toward communities.

Redding police said everyone reported missing in Shasta County had been found.

The Shasta County Sheriff’s Office said it took 60 missing persons reports in the early days of the fire. 

Meanwhile the Ferguson fire in central California was only at 39 percent containment as of Wednesday.

Two people have been killed, but no houses have been damaged or destroyed, fire officials said.

But 2,800 structures are threatened and engulfed nearly 63,000 acres.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Governor Jerry Brown said the Carr Fire typified a “new normal” authorities are encountering, as large, extremely intense and swiftly spreading wildfires occur more often over a longerfire season.

Fire officials said such blazes had been fueled by several years of drought-dessicated vegetation, and stoked by frequent and persistent bouts of erratic winds and triple-digit temperatures.