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NEWS
National Weather Service

Firefighters race to contain Calif. wildfire before hot weather returns

Trevor Hughes
USA TODAY

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — Firefighters made slow progress against two fast-moving wildfires in Northern California early Tuesday, although forecasts for rain midweek signaled temporary relief in what has become a costly, intense wildfire season.

Napa Strike Team firefighters Mike Holmes and Dan Stith cover their eyes from the smoke during a controlled burn on Monday, Sept. 14, 2015, in Adams, Calif.

The Valley Fire and Butte Fire, the most severe of more than a dozen wildfires roaring throughout the state, have destroyed more than 750 homes and hundreds of other buildings in less than a week.

The Valley Fire has sprawled across three counties, including the wine-country counties of Napa and Sonoma, scorching 67,000 acres with only 15% containment, said Cal Fire public information officer Daniel Berlant. While the fire swept unchecked across miles of rolling, drought-parched hillsides, any progress was remarkable: as of Monday morning, the third day of the fire, containment had been zero.

Almost 2,400 firefighters were battling the blaze, part of a 11,000-person web of firefighters charged with containing all the fires. California's extreme drought, the worst on record, has led to rapid escalation in the size and destruction of the state's fires — and the resources used to fight it.

The Valley Fire led to one death. The body of Barbara McWilliams, an elderly woman suffering from advanced multiple sclerosis, was found late Sunday in her burned out home. Four firefighters have been injured.

In and around the hot-springs-resort town of Middletown, Calif., it destroyed at least 400 homes as well as a popular resort. Before the weekend's destructive blazes, Gov. Jerry Brown's administration estimated the cost from this wildfire season topped $212 million.

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The Valley Fire did most of its damage in eight hours on Saturday, and firefighters are preparing for a monumental battle over the next several days, fearing it could roar to life again.

Cooler temperatures reduced the fire's intensity Monday, and firefighters hope to significantly increase containment before temperatures rise again this weekend.

"We've got to take advantage right now and get containment built," Berlant said. "We will not really be able to breathe a sigh of relief until we get that containment line in place."

Firefighters typically halt the spread of wildfire by robbing them of fuel, often by digging or cutting a line through vegetation to bare ground with hand tools or bulldozers.

On Monday it rained in Sacramento, about 90 miles away, and the National Weather Service forecast intermittent showers for southern Lake County.

Southeast of the state's capital, in the Sierra Nevadas, the Butte Fire in Amador and Calaveras counties burned 71,660 acres — an area twice the size of San Francisco — and was 37% contained.

More than 4,500 firefighters are battling the fire, which has destroyed 166 residences and more than 100 other buildings.

'Gone, absolutely gone' is refrain of California wildfire

Manny Gomez spent Monday anxiously checking his phone every hour, as he visited clients for his family’s business, Apollo Heating, in San Francisco.

If the winds start blowing south in Calaveras County, his family’s vacation home near Murphys, Calif. could be in the path of the Butte County fire.

Gomez, 59, cleared brush near the house to create a 30-foot “defensible perimeter” around the property over the weekend. “You’ve got to get everything that the fire could catch. Though if the fire’s too high, there’s nothing you can do,” he said.

The fire was burning just two ridges over from their property.

“The whole side of the mountain was lit up with flames and embers. It smelled bad. The smoke was so strong, my eyes hurt, my throat was raw,” he said.

Elizabeth Weise in San Francisco contributed to this report. Follow Trevor Hughes @trevorhughes and Elizabeth Weise @eweise.

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