"'Gone, Absolutely Gone' Is Refrain of California Wildfire"

"MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — Corie Barloggi looked across a charred field in this once scenic Northern California town, best known for hot springs and its proximity to Napa Valley, and was struck by what she didn't see: her neighbors' homes.

'They're gone, absolutely gone,' the third-grade teacher said as firefighting airplanes circled above and the wind whipped ashes across charred trees and smoldering power lines.

These gray and lifeless images, more reminiscent of war than the mellow gold hills that draw retirees, are the remains of the huge and largely unchecked Valley Fire that swept through California's Lake County this weekend, destroying at least 400 homes in the town and nearby area about 90 miles north of San Francisco."

Trevor Hughes and Lindsay Deutsch report for USA TODAY September 14, 2015.

SEE ALSO:

"Fierce California Wildfire Claims Life of 'True Adventurer'" (AP)

"585 Homes Destroyed, Hundreds of Other Structures Lost in Valley Fire" (KCRA Sacramento)

"One Dead, Others Missing in Lake County Fire" (Sacramento Bee)