Wildfires burning through California

Justin 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.

Lessie Young embraces her daughter, Sonya Young, after seeing her burned home in Middletown, Calif. The family had been evacuated because of the Valley fire a week earlier.

Francisco Cervantes defended his Middletown home from the Valley fire with a garden hose. Later, he used buckets of water from his neighbor’s swimming pool.

Charred cabins and blackened cedar trees line a sidewalk at Hoberg’s Resort & Spa in Cobb, Calif. The Valley Fire destroyed every building at the popular family resort.

Gary Prather, a retired Cal Fire captain, digs around a smoldering tree trunk.

The Prather family -- Jon, Stacey, Danny, Darryl and Gary -- sprang into action after the Valley fire started, helping to cut fire lines, extinguish spot fires and deliver supplies even after evacuations were ordered.

Doug Troyer, 68, looks out at the smoldering Valley fire.

Riverside firefighter Chris Winder holds a vase found amid the ashes of a house in Anderson Springs, Calif., on Sept. 17.

Gail Barrett, 68, on left, sits with her neighbor, 63-year-old Carol Trautwein, 63, at the Red Cross shelter in Kelseyville. Their phones went dead before they could receive a mandatory evacuation order and a siren that used to sound at the volunteer fire department down the road to announce emergencies didn’t.  (Lee Romney / Los Angeles Times)

The fire left behind blackened skeletons of trees and a swing set in the backyard of a home on Big Canyon Road in Cobb Mountain, Calif.

A Los Angeles Fire Department crew moves past the ruins of a house on Big Canyon Road in Cobb Mountain, Calif.

A hilltop home on Shenandoah Road in Cobb Mountain, Calif., was left in ruins after the Valley fire raced through.

A view of the area ravaged by the Valley fire off Big Canyon Rd near Cobb Mountain, Calif.

A burned car sits on the corner of a street after the Valley fire ravaged and destroyed an entire neighborhood in Cobb Mountain, Calif.

Homes and structures are just burned remains after the Valley fire in Cobb Mountain, Calif.

Rain begins to fall on Mellisa Bennett, who is living in a tent city at the evacuation center at the Napa County Fairgrounds in Calistoga. Her mother lost her home in Middletown on the first day of the Valley fire.

Winnie Pugh, 85 is consoled by a local resident at the Napa County Fairgrounds fire evacuation center in Calistoga, CA on Sept 16, 2015. The Valley Fire destroyed Pugh’s Middletown family home of 3 generations and all of her posessions.

Smoke rises from the charred remains of a home and garden in Anderson Springs after a steady rain.

Firefighters do mop up work putting out understory flames along Highway 175 near Cobb, Calif.

Yolanda Limones and her granddaughter Jasmine Rojo, 6 watch as Martin Borges covers their tent as rain begins to fall at the evacuation center in Calistoga. Borges lost his home in Middletown on the first day of the Valley fire. “The rain is good if it puts out the fire and will prevent more victims,” he said. “It’s a blessing.”

A sign on a fence in Middletown addresses the recent looting of homes that have been evacuated in the wake of the Valley fire.

The Valley fire crosses Butts Canyon Road southeast of Middletown on Tuesday.

A firefighter runs to his fire truck along Butts Canyon Road southeast of Middletown Tuesday afternoon as winds pick up.

A firefighter runs to his fire truck along Butts Canyon Road southeast of Middletown Tuesday afternoon.

Firefighters keep an eye on the Valley fire along Butts Canyon Road southeast of Middletown Tuesday afternoon as winds kick up again.

CalFire investigators leave a cordoned off hillside along High Valley Road in Cobb Mountain, where it is suspected that the enormous Valley fire may have started.

Desiccated oak leaves that are bent in the same direction on a tree about 200 yards up a hill from a fire-damaged building on High Valley Road in Cobb Mountain, Calif. Although investigators have not confirmed that building as the source of the Valley fire, evidence is strong. Official confirmation from Cal Fire has not been released.

A fire truck drives along Butts Canyon Road southeast of Middletown Tuesday afternoon as winds kick up the Valley fire.

Highway Patrol officers prepare to evacuate along Butts Canyon Road southeast of Middletown Tuesday afternoon as winds kick up.

An air tanker drops fire retardant over a fire south of Middletown on Tuesday.

Bonnie Albertson searches for their family cat, Blue, in the rubble of their home in Hidden Valley Lake.

Jay Albertson views the remains of the home where he had lived for 30 years. “This is a chapter in our lives that is gone forever,” he said.forever.”

Firefighters extinguish hotspots in the rubble of a home.

The Valley fire ravaged a residential neighborhood in Middletown.

Outdoor furniture and a lone flower pot sits in the foreground of the destruction caused by the Valley fire in a residential neighborhood of Middletown.  (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Cables are tangled near the remains of a home in Cobb, Calif.

A downed utility pole blocks Gifford Springs Road in Cobb, Calif.

“I lost everything into a pile of ash - art, books, computers, photos,’ said Najma Fichthorn at the Red Cross evacuation center in Calistoga. ‘I feel my soul has been taken away. This is a huge spiritual test.”

“I lost everything into a pile of ash - art, books, computers, photos,’ said Najma Fichthorn at the Red Cross evacuation center in Calistoga. ‘I feel my soul has been taken away. This is a huge spiritual test.”

The sun rises Tuesday morning along Highway 175 in Middletown after the Valley fire roared through the area near Santa Rosa.

A tree fire continues to burn in the Anderson Springs community Tuesday morning after the Valley fire roared through the area near Santa Rosa.

A Caltrans crew clears a fire-weakened tree that was cut down as a safety precaution along Highway 175 on Cobb Mountain on Sept. 14.

Caltrans tree crew member Clayton Loflin works at taking down a tree that was weakened by the Valley fire along Highway 175 on Cobb Mountain on Sept. 14.

Firefighters search the rubble of destroyed homes for hotspots after the Valley fire tore through neighborhoods in Middletown, Calif., on Sept. 14.

Firefighters look for hotspots on Sept. 14 after the Valley fire destroyed homes in Middletown, Calif.

A untouched fence stands near the rubble of homes destroyed by the Valley fire in Middletown, Calif., on Sept. 14.

Melted red white and blue bunting frames homes destroyed in the Valley fire along Highway 175 in Middletown, Calif.

Firefighter Eddie Blevins sprays water on the smoldering ruins of a home on Bleuss Court in Cobb Mountain.

Investigators from Napa County Fire Department search for bodies at the site of a home destroyed by the Valley Fire on Sunday in Cobb Mountain.

A charred carport and vehicles are all that remain of a two-story apartment complex in Middletown.

Fire retardant coats a car parked in a driveway in the samll community of Cobb Mountain.

Fallen trees burn on California 29 in Middletown.

Firefighter Scott Dong checks a structure for victims at a residence along Highway 175 in Middletown, Calif.

Fire crews create a fire line and contain a spreading wildfire on the outskirts of Middletown, Calif.

The remains of a home burned in the fast-moving and deadly Valley fire near Middletown, Calif.

A sign in front of a destroyed home in Middletown, Calif.

California firefighter Scott Dong walks through a destroyed structure along Highway 175 in Middletown, Calif.

Crews dig a line to stop fires from advancing near Middletown, Calif.

Crews dig a line to stop fires from advancing near Middletown, Calif.

Dave Burns digs into a Red Cross toiletries bag before bedding down on a cot at the Napa County Fairgrounds evacuation center in Calistoga. The 50-year resident of Middletown said the Valley fire rolled over his family’s truck and heavy equipment business.

“It’ll be a miracle” if it didn’t burn, said Lee Stacy, left, of her home in Cobb Mountain, who gets a hug from Mickey Aiello at the Napa County Fairgrounds evacuation center in Calistoga.

Sonya Young and her daughters Bell, 9, and Sofia,11, are served breakfast by local school district and Rotary Club volunteers at the Napa County Fairgrounds evacuation center in Calistoga.

The Valley fire destroyed an apartment complex in Middletown, Calif., on Sunday.

Sitting in a tent at the Napa County Fairgrounds evacuation center in Calistoga, Calif., Sidney Conklin, 8, with her mother Patrice Conklin, holds a cellphone with a photo of their Middletown home that burned to the ground in the Valley fire.

Firefighters scramble to try to control a house aflame after a wildfire swept through a county road near Seigler Springs, Calif., on Sunday night.

Firefighters leave the scene after containing most of the flames and the surrounding areas in a wildfire that destroyed a home near Seigler Springs, Calif.

A home is destroyed in the path of the Valley fire near Seigler Springs, Calif.

Firefighters build a backfire to protect homes in a residential neighborhood near Seigler Springs, Calif.

Firefighters build a backfire to protect homes in a residential neighborhood near Seigler Springs, Calif.

Michael Barnes and his family carry new blankets and pillows to be donated to fire victims at the Napa County Fairgrounds evacuation center in Calistoga, Calif.

Willow Stephens, 5, gives water to chickens that were evacuated along with her family and neighbors when the Valley fire bore down on their homes in Middletown, Calif.

John Ryon rests with his family in a camping tent at the Napa County Fairgrounds evacuation center in Calistoga, Calif. Their home in Middletown was destroyed yesterday by the Valley fire.

Aftermath of the Valley fire in Hidden Valley Lakes.  (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

A statue sits in the foreground of burned down homes in Hidden Valley Lakes.

Melted metal that flowed from a burned out car sits on a pavement in Hidden Valley Lakes.

A burned out wheel chair sits in the rubble Middletown.

A car burns in front of a burning home in the Valley fire on Sept. 13, 2015, in Middletown, Calif.

Firefighters from Tulare walk for miles to catch up with the back fire they created along Fricot City Road to try to contain the growing Butte Fire near Sheep Ranch, Calif.

Firefighters from Tulare work to create a back fire along Fricot City Road to try to contain the Butte fire near Sheep Ranch, Calif.

Firefighters from Tulare work to create a back fire along Fricot City Road to try to contain the growing Butte Fire near Sheep Ranch, Calif.

Firefighters move away after a back fire burn goes out of control along Fricot City Road as they try to contain the Butte fire near Sheep Ranch, Calif.

A firefighter sprays water mixed with foam to control the back fire along Fricot City Road near Sheep Ranch, Calif.

Firefighters from Tulare watch a back fire along Fricot City Road as they try to contain the growing Butte fire.

Firefighters from Tulare work to create a back fire along Fricot City Road to try to contain the Butte fire near Sheep Ranch, Calif.

Firefighter Andrew Dodds watches the back fire burning along Fricot City Road as firefighters try to contain the growing Butte fire.

Andrew Dodds mans the water line as firefighters work to start a backfire to contain the Butte fire on Fricot City Road near Sheeps Ranch, Calif., on Sept. 12.

Firefighters from Tulare work to create a back fire along Fricot City Road to try to contain the growing Butte Fire.

Firefighters from Tulare work to create a back fire along Fricot City Road to try to contain the growing Butte Fire near Sheep Ranch, Calif.

A firefighter pauses to check on the growing Butte fire near Sheep Ranch, Calif.