Residents reeling after fire consumes large swath of Weed, Calif.

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The sun rises behind Mt. Shasta overlooking the devastated Angel Valley neighborhood two days after the Boles Fire, pushed by heavy winds devastated this town near the California and Oregon border. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Crews work to extinguish fire that continues to burn below the surface of a large pile of wood chips at the Roseburg Mill, two days after the wind whipped Boles Fire blew through the town of Weed. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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The melted ruins of an old car sits in the driveway of a home in the Angel Valley neighborhood of Weed, CA. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Fire retardant paints a grass field orange in the Angel Valley neighborhood of Weed, CA. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Firefighters put out hotspots at a still smoldering home in a neighborhood destroyed by a devastating fire that rage through Weed, Calif., destroying 150 buildings. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Hundreds of homes are in ruins a day after a wildfire, pushed by heavy winds, devastated Weed, Calif., a town near the California and Oregon border. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Seemingly unscathed logs are stacked next to piles of smoldering logs at the Roseburg Mill a day after the Boles fire, pushed by heavy winds, devastated Weed, Calif. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Vacaville firefighter Chris Mickelson looks for hot spots where dozens of homes lay in ruins a day after a wildfire, pushed by heavy winds, struck Weed, Caliif. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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A sign of thanks painted on the rooftop of a home spared by the Boles fire can be seen from nearby lots of smoldering debris in Weed, Calif. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Santa Rosa city firefighters clear debris in search of hot spots in the Angel Valley neighborhood of Weed, Calif., where many homes were destroyed by the Boles fire. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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An air drop of fire retardant helped spare a home on Jackson Street. Hundreds of others nearby lay in ruins a day after the Boles fire swept through the area. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Kathy Besk, left, cries with her daughter Shelley Besk as they stand in the burned-out ruins of their home in Weed, Calif. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

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A section of a structure stands over the remains of a destroyed business in Weed, Calif. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

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A cyclist stops to take a picture of the remains of destroyed homes in Weed, Calif. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

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Firefighters hose down the smoldering remains of a home in Weed, Calif., on Tuesday. (Jeff Barnard / Associated Press)

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The sun rises over Mt. Shasta on Tuesday, illuminating the remains of a house burned in a wind-driven wildfire in Weed, Calif. (Jeff Barnard / Associated Press)

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A firefighter hoses down smoking rubble inside the foundation of a home destroyed by a wildfire in Weed, Calif. (Jeff Barnard / Associated Press)

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A bathtub is seen painted pink with fire retardant in the rubble of a home destroyed by a wildfire in Weed, Calif. (Jeff Barnard / Associated Press)

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Apples hang on a tree next to a home destroyed by a wind-driven wildfire in Weed, Calif. (Jeff Barnard / Associated Press)

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Firefighters work to put out fires and protect structures along Center Street in Weed, Calif. The Boles fire raced through the small town near the Oregon border, damaging or destroying 100 homes and prompting evacuation orders for at least 1,500 people, authorities said. (Greg Barnette / Associated Press)

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The Boles fire burns along a ridge in Weed, Calif. (Greg Barnette / Associated Press)

By Chris MegerianStaff Writer

Sept. 16, 2014 6:20 PM PT

WEED, Calif. – After a hot and dry summer, residents here said they had become dulled to the smell of smoke from wildfires.

But Tiffany DeVault had a bad feeling right away when the familiar scent filled the air Monday afternoon, and she asked her husband, Troy, to come home from work early, just in case.

He was too late. By the time the 39-year-old handyman completed the 20-minute drive, flames had already forced her to flee the house with their two children. Police barred him from getting any closer.

It wasn’t until Tuesday morning, standing outside a nearby Red Cross shelter, that he saw a cellphone photo of the home his family purchased just three months ago. Like dozens of other houses in the Angel Valley neighborhood, almost nothing was left but the concrete foundation.

“It happened so fast,” he said, dazed by the destructive power of a fire that has stunned this town of 3,000 people just west of Mt. Shasta. He has struggled to explain to his young son a catastrophe that he barely comprehends himself.

“We’ve told my son we’re going to get help, and he’s going to get new toys,” he said.

Compared with many of the wildfires that have plagued drought-stricken California this year, the blaze in Weed was relatively small, scorching only 375 acres.

But it destroyed or damaged 150 buildings, tearing at some of the town’s most important institutions. The fire consumed two churches, a library and a community organization that tended to the poor. Machinery at the town’s mill, which processes materials for plywood, were destroyed, and it was unclear when scores of residents would be able to return to work there.

Houses were reduced to piles of ash and charred kitchen appliances. Burned-out cars sat in driveways.

“It looks like a bomb went off,” said Angel Fisher, 41.

No one was killed or seriously injured, and on Tuesday afternoon, life in parts of Weed seemed normal. The postman made his rounds with the mail, and a downtown café did brisk business.

But helicopters continued buzzing overhead, sinking baskets into a pond and dumping the water onto a still-smoldering hill. Firefighters hosed down the remains of houses, and fire retardant covered cars and buildings like pink sponge paint.

Officials with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said the blaze, named the Boles fire after the creek near its suspected origin, was 20% contained. Its cause remained under investigation, and fear of potentially stronger winds Wednesday kept firefighters working through the day to douse hot spots and dig trenches to quarantine the fire.

“We are not leaving here any time soon,” said Scott McLean, a Cal Fire spokesman.