‘I talked to them until the fire got them’: Great-grandfather tells of his desperate attempt to reach wife, 70, and two great-grandchildren killed in Carr fire, as relatives say the little boy called 911 begging for help
Melody Bledsoe, 70, and her great-grandchildren James Roberts, 5, and Emily Roberts, 4, have died
They were among 17 people missing in the wildfire that consumed Shasta County
This brings the death toll to five, after two firefighters were killed Thursday and Friday
Family members said Melody and the kids were at home when Melody’s husband, Ed, took the family car to get supplies unaware that the neighborhood had been ordered to evacuate
Ed said he got a call to hurry back home because the fire was approaching but was stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic and could not reach them
Ed said he stayed on the phone with his wife and great-grandchildren ‘until the fire got them’
Family members said five-year-old James called 911 begging for help but was told that firefighters could not reach them in time
On Friday in Shasta County, the evening sun combined with the still smoky air to produce a milky glow
The light illuminated the shattered remains of houses and the skeletons of thousands of charred trees
On Saturday, 3,400 firefighters still battling 48,300-acre Carr Fire which is only three percent contained
By MINYVONNE BURKE and KAYLA BRANTLEY
DAILYMAIL.COM
29 July 2018
A California family spent days searching for their missing relatives only to learn that they had perished in the Carr Fire, which continues to rip through northern California and also took the lives of two firefighters.
Family members said Melody Bledsoe, 70, and her two great-grandchildren, James Roberts, 5 and Emily Roberts, 4, were home alone when they fire engulfed their home in Shasta County. Melody’s husband, Ed Bledsoe, had taken the only working car to get supplies unaware that officials had ordered people in their area to evacuate.
Ed told the Sacramento Bee during an interview on Saturday that he received a call from the home telling him to hurry up and get back because the fire was approaching. Ed said he stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic and contacted the children’s aunt, Carla Bledsoe, to go and pick the family up.
Ed said that he stayed on the phone with his wife and two great-grandchildren ‘until the fire got them’.
‘I was trying to get to them. The fire was just, the whole damn place was nothing but fire,’ he said. ‘I’d give my life for them. I just don’t know what I’ve done wrong. I get two little angels like that and I leave them in the damn fire’.
Authorities confirmed on Saturday that Melody and the two kids had died in the fire. The family home, which was reduced to ash and rubble in the wake of the blaze, is now blocked off by red police tape.
Officials said the neighborhood the Bledsoe family lived in experienced a ‘flash fire’ leaving residents little time to escape.
According to the San Francisco Gate, family members said five-year-old James also called 911 begging for someone to come and help them.
‘My nephew called, scared, for help, but they said they couldn’t make it in time,’ Carla said.
The devastated family also said they received mixed messages from authorities when searching for their missing loved ones. Carla told the Sacramento Bee that firefighters initially told Ed that his wife and great-grandchildren were safe and had been taken to a shelter, but after searching various shelters in the area they could not find them.
The family was called to the sheriff’s department on Saturday to be told that Melody, James and Emily did not make it out of the Carr Fire alive.
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