A preliminary report on the deaths of two firefighters reveals new details about the fire tornado that killed Redding Fire Department inspector Jeremy Stoke.
Using the details in that report and information gathered by our journalists inside the burn area, ABC10 was able to plot out the sequence of events that led to Stoke's death.
In the video, ABC10 tracked the tornado from its apparent formation in the water of the Sacramento River, near Keswick Dam, to the point that it crossed paths with Stoke, who was on his way to a nearby neighborhood to help people escape to safety.
Firefighters believe Stoke's F-150 pickup was lifted by the tornado and tossed into burning forest more than 100 feet from the road, a distance that our report shows using aerial imagery.
The CAL FIRE document describes the tornado as an EF-3 (winds 136-165 MPH) with a base on the ground the width of three football fields. The flames burned hotter than 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit, which is twice as hot as a typical fire burning on a forest floor-- and hot enough to melt the change in your pocket.
CAL FIRE also describes how the weather and terrain helped to form the rotation that created the tornado.
You can read CAL FIRE's preliminary conclusions below. The full and final accident report will likely be published several months from now:
Carr Fire Fatalities - Preliminary Report by Harvey Ward on Scribd
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