Updated August 19, 2018 14:23:00

In the history of California wildfires there has never been anything like it: A churning tornado filled with fire, the size of three football fields.

An official report describes in chilling detail the intensity of the rare fire phenomenon and how quickly it took the life of Redding firefighter Jeremy Stoke, who was enveloped in seconds as he tried to evacuate residents on July 26.

Three videos released with the report show the massive funnel of smoke and flames in a populated area on the edge of Redding, about 400 kilometres north of San Francisco.

The smoke-and-fire tornado was about 300 metres wide at its base and shot approximately 12 kilometres into the sky, according to the report by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

It reached speeds of up to 265kph, with temperatures that likely exceeded 1,480 degrees Celsius.

The tornado exploded in the middle of what was already a gigantic, devastating wildfire that started on July 23 with a spark from a vehicle driving on a flat tyre.

Victim called for 'a water drop'

Stoke was one of eight people killed since the blaze started.

The 37-year-old fire inspector was driving his pickup truck down a Redding road, working on evacuating people from the larger blaze, when he radioed out a "mayday" call, according to the report.

Stoke said he, "needed a water drop and was getting burned over", the report said.

Then Stoke's transmissions abruptly stopped.

His remains were not found until the next day.

Photo: A makeshift memorial has been made for Jeremy Stoke on the edge of a road near where he died. (AP: John Locher)

Record heat, high-speed winds likely contributed

It took more time to analyse the ferocity of the tornado that ripped roofs off houses and flung power line towers, cars and a shipping container into the air near the spot where he was overtaken by the flames, according to the report, released earlier this week.

A confluence of weather conditions likely contributed to the tornado, including a combination of record heat in the Sacramento Valley — it reached 45 degrees Celsius in Redding that day — and cool, high-speed winds coming from the coast.

Cal Fire spokesman Scott McLean said: "You're just talking minutes is how fast this weather pattern pushed this fire.

"The fire was extremely erratic, going in all sorts directions as well.

"So the firefighters, law enforcement, including Jeremy, were in there trying to evacuate those civilians and get them out of harm's way and making an escape so they could escape.

"And unfortunately Jeremy was found later on, deceased."

The report also detailed the death of private bulldozer operator Don Smith, 81, of Pollock Pines, who was killed when his bulldozer was caught in the flames while trying to improve a fire line during what the officials said were "extraordinary fire weather conditions".

Both deaths occurred within the space of two hours and in one 5km stretch of the Carr Fire, one of several massive wildfires in California this year and was 76 per cent contained as of Thursday.

AP

Topics: death, fires, bushfire, united-states

First posted August 19, 2018 14:14:19