© David Royal / Associated PressA plane drops fire retardant on a fire along Highway 68 east of Laureles Grade in rural Salinas, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015.
As firefighters made progress on the Valley and Butte fires, hundreds of people displaced by the blazes returned over the weekend to find the charred remains of their homes and towns.
The Valley fire, one of the most destructive in the state's history, has burned 75,781 acres, destroyed 1,050 structures and left three dead. It ignited Sept. 12 and traveled 10 miles in 10 hours, expanding to 50,000 acres in the space of a day.
Teams of firefighters were still crisscrossing the burn area Sunday, stamping out remaining hotspots and putting out smoldering stumps. By Monday morning, the fire was 70% contained.
"We're in the mopping-up stages now, just extinguishing smoke and hotspots," said Capt. Richard Cordova, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "You're not going to see any flames."
© Don Bartletti / Los Angeles TimesJustin White throws up his hands in frustration after finding nothing to retrieve from the ruins of his apartment in Middletown, Calif., on Saturday, Sept. 19.
In Calaveras and Amador counties, the Butte fire was 74% contained Monday after scorching more than 70,760 acres and 800 structures. As more than 4,000 firefighters advanced on the blaze, some mandatory evacuation orders in the area were lifted and others were changed to evacuation advisories.
In Monterey County, nearly 600 fire personnel fought the fast-moving Tassajara fire, which started Saturday afternoon near Jamesburg. By Sunday evening, it had consumed about 1,100 acres and damaged or destroyed 10 homes and numerous outbuildings, Cal Fire officials said. One person was killed.
One of the ravaged houses belonged to a firefighter.
"Cachagua Fire is saddened to report that one of our firefighters lost his home yesterday," read a post on the department's Facebook page. "Ironically, he was out driving a fire engine to help save the lives of other residents when his home was lost."
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"The road, as far as we know, is passable — but they are only letting people out — not in," it said.
The name of the person killed in the fire was not released Sunday afternoon, and no other details were available. A Red Cross evacuation center was established at Carmel Middle School in Carmel Valley.
While Monterey County residents were evacuating, some in Northern California burn areas were going home.
In Middletown, many stood in circles remarking on the strangely selective destruction the fire had wrought.
Flames flattened an apartment complex at Barnes and Main Street, but left the playground at the compound's center untouched. The town's flower shop was charred inside, but the restaurants attached to it were intact. Nearly every street had a few homes missing.
The Valley Fire's chaotic spread forced firefighters to make quick decisions about which homes and neighborhoods were defensible, said Capt. Tony McHale, a Cal Fire spokesman.
"I understand their frustration," McHale said of those who had lost homes. "But we have to pick places that give us our best chance of success. It's not an exact science."
At an evacuation center at the Napa County Fairgrounds in Calistoga, rumors of destroyed communities flew thick among residents starved for information. Many discovered the fate of their homes via cellphone pictures texted by friends and family who didn't evacuate. Others, like Steve Leonardi of Middletown, found out when they saw their homes burning on the evening news.
"It was an unusual house, so they just kept showing it all week," Leonardi said.
Lia Findley Jennings lives on Cobb Mountain near where the fire began. She and her husband were told that their whole town was gone. But her daughter, who lives on the other side of the mountain, texted them a picture of their house last week: It's still standing.
The rest of their town is a different story, Findley Jennings said.
"I'm not looking at the pictures anymore, because I know what's there. It's not much," Findley Jennings said. "I'm worried about going back."
Comment: According to the National Interagency Fire Center, the 2015 wildfire season in the United States is a record breaker. All over the world we are witnessing extensive wildfires, which in some regions have been described as "unprecedented".
Could some of these wildfires have been fueled from outgassing, then possibly 'sparked' by an increase in atmospheric electric discharge events, such as lightning strikes? See also:
Study: Wildfire seasons are more destructive and lasting longer almost everywhere on Earth