The Carr Fire in Redding, Calif., has killed five people after a malfunctioning vehicle set off flames on July 23.
They found the children’s bodies under a wet blanket.
For days, family members had combed evacuation shelters, praying for a sign that Melody Bledsoe and her granddaughter’s children had survived the Carr Fire.
Search crews, meanwhile, sifted through the ashes of what used to be the family’s neighborhood in Redding, Calif., looking for something much worse.
On Saturday, authorities called the family into the sheriff’s office with news of the search’s grim conclusion — and details of a matriarch’s final, futile act.
“Grandma did everything she could to save them she was hovered over them both with a wet blanket,” Amanda Woodley wrote on Facebook shortly afterward.
They were the latest victims of California’s Carr Fire, an 89,194-acre blaze that has killed five people and twice doubled in size.
Emily Roberts was 4. Her brother, James Roberts Jr., was 5. Their great-grandmother, Melody Bledsoe, was 70. Their family hadn’t heard from them since receiving desperate phone calls on Thursday night, saying the flames were getting closer.
“The family that lives in town are all together mourning 3 amazing souls,” Woodley wrote. “My heart is crushed i can’t believe this is real i just keep seeing all of their beautiful faces.”
The Sacramento Bee✔@sacbee_news
#Update #Breaking ‘My kids are deceased’ Mother confirms missing children, great-grandmother died in fire https://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/fires/article215704355.html …
‘My kids are deceased’ Mother confirms missing children, great-grandmother died in fire
Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko says evacuation orders were issued to threatened areas, but relative of a missing trio say the family never got one and remain missing. Check back for updates.
sacbee.com
While some families mourned, others braced themselves for the heartbreak to come.
Michelle Harrington, a teacher from Redding, said officials told her that she would be permitted to access her home — or, rather, what was left of it — on Sunday morning. She won’t be alone.
The Carr Fire has destroyed 500 structures and threatens 5,000 more, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
The latest official update about the blaze includes a sobering admission by fire authorities. Despite the efforts of 3,400 active fire personnel, the blaze is winning.
Officials said the Carr Fire in Northern California, which started July 23 and has tripled in size, was caused by a mechanical issue involving a vehicle.
“The winds, high temperatures and dry vegetation still have the potential to fuel fire growth,” Cal Fire said. “Fire Spread has been active in all directions and has made significant runs.”
Two firefighters — Redding Fire Inspector Jeremy Stoke and Don Ray Smith, a privately hired bulldozer operator — were killed trying to contain the blaze, which will probably be larger than the city of Philadelphia before the weekend is up.
As of Sunday morning, the fire was 5 percent contained. Authorities say it was sparked by a malfunctioning vehicle on Monday, July 23.
A destroyed car is seen among the ruins of a burned neighborhood after the Carr Fire passed through the area of Lake Keswick Estates near Redding, Calif., on Saturday. (Josh Edelson/AFB/Getty Images)
Aaron Williams contributed to this report from Redding, Calif.
Further reading:
The grim scope of 2017’s California wildfire season is now clear. The danger’s not over.
Exposing the Big Game 
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