Report: Massive fire tornado killed California firefighter

Officials say the first firefighter to die battling a Northern California blaze was killed by a fire tornado.

The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection says in a report that Redding firefighter Jeremy Stoke died July 26 after he was enveloped in seconds by a fire tornado with a base the size of three football fields and winds up to 165 miles an hour.

The report says the longtime Redding Fire Department veteran was driving his pickup truck down a road in northwest Redding, working on evacuating residents. One minute later he radioed out a “mayday” call saying he was getting burned over, and then his transmissions abruptly stopped.

That blaze that continues to burn has killed eight people.