The two massive wildfires in California continue to wreak havoc as authorities divulge that more than 1000 homes have been destroyed.
On Saturday, Sept. 19, Cal Fire and California Department of Forestry officials let on that the Valley Fire wildfire was responsible for scorching nearly 74,500 acres of land. Only 50 percent of the wildfire has been contained so far.
The wildfire rages on untamed in Northern California and is responsible for taking at least three lives. The count of homes razed to the ground due to the Valley Fire stands at 585. The flames continue to destroy other structures in Lake County even as people who had evacuated in the face of an emergency head home.
The authorities let people in the 1300-odd community return to Middletown. Firefighters and officials are on hand to assist people.
"This is a traumatic situation for them, so we just want to make sure we're there for them to provide information and so they have a shoulder to cry on," said Richard Cordova, Cal Fire captain.
The wildfire highlights the harshness of the situation in drought-ridden California as the wildfire season approaches. It is poised to become the fiercest wildfire in the state in years.
The second wildfire raging in California is dubbed the Butte Fire and has been burning for over a week as well. It is raging 100 miles eastward of the Sierra Nevada foothills. Only 65 percent of the wildfire has been contained and it has resulted in the death of two people. The wildfire has burned down 70,760 acres of land and 504 homes, as well as 330 outbuildings.
Even as a crew of over 4000 fights back the fire, the residents in the affected areas who were evacuated have now been allowed to return home as per Cal Fire's Josh Rubinstein.
The trees that have been charred due to the fire and are at a hazard of falling are also being removed to avoid accidents.
