The devastating result of several years of drought and a recent heatwave, California’s fastest-burning wildfires in decades have destroyed over a hundred homes and forced thousands of residents to flee over the weekend.
The fast-moving fires consumed 50,000 acres after they grew by 40,000 acres in just twelve hours, leaving firefighters unable to contain them. California governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency in Amador, Calaveras, Lake and Napa, counties where the 160-square-mile wildfire has burned scores of structures so far and is threatening 6,400 in the historic Gold Country of the Sierra Nevada foothills.
The explosive wildfire, about 100 miles north of San Francisco, has incinerated an unconfirmed number of homes and other buildings and damaged highways and other infrastructure. These pictures document what’s happened so far.
The evening sky lit by the Valley Fire, on September 13, 2015 in Middletown, California.
Photo: Stephen Lam/Getty Images
Firefighters with the Marin County Fire Department’s Tamalpais Fire Crew monitor a backfire as they battle the Valley Fire
Photo: Stephen Lam/Getty Images
A firefighter ignites a backfire with a driptorch
Photo: Stephen Lam/Getty Images
Firefighters monitor the backfire they ignited
Photo: Stephen Lam/Getty Images
Firefighter dwarfed by tall flames near San Andreas
Photo: David McNew/Getty Images
Stacked firewood burns next to a home in Middletown
Photo: Stephen Lam/Getty Images
A car burns in front of a burning home in Middletown
Photo: Stephen Lam/Getty Images
A statue stands next to the ruins of a house that burned down in the Butte Fire on September 12, 2015 north of Murphys
Photo: David McNew/Getty Images
A firefighter stands near a wildfire in Middletown
Photo: Elaine Thompson/AP
A pair of burned cars sit outside the remains of several homes destroyed by fire along Highway 175, near Middletown
Photo: Eric Risberg/AP
A figure of a small deer stands outside a building destroyed by fire in Middletown
Photo: Eric Risberg/AP
A helicopter drops water on the flames in San Andreas
Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP
A destroyed car in Mountain Ranch
Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP
Putto sits on a rock wall outside a destroyed hillside home in Hidden Valley
Photo: Eric Risberg/AP
A pair of satellite dishes stand outside the remains of a home destroyed by fire along Highway 175, near Middletown
Photo: Eric Risberg/AP
Top photo: A home is consumed by the Valley Fire on September 13, 2015 in Middletown, California. Stephen Lam/Getty Images
