At least 2 dead, scores of homes lost as fire sweeps through Redding, Calif.

REDDING, Calif. - The fire came out of the dry pines of the Trinity Mountains with such intense heat that it created its own wind pattern.

Evacuating his neighbors in the River Ridge neighborhood, Redding Police Chief Roger Moore saw a towering coil of fire sucking debris in the sky like a tornado.

"It was just destroying everything in its path," he said. "It was making a sound like a jet engine."

As the Carr fire raced eastward, driven by fierce wind, it rushed down brushy canyons, up dry-grass ridges, through neighborhoods thick with trees and across the Sacramento River.

By Friday morning, a firefighter and a bulldozer operator were killed and 65 homes were destroyed, including Moore's. Officials identified one of the victims as Redding