23,000 California Residents Displaced By Butte, Valley Fires

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. (AP) - State officials say 23,000 people have been displaced by two explosive wildfires decimating whole communities in Northern California.

Mark Ghilarducci, director of Office of Emergency Services, said at a news conference Monday that about 13,000 have been driven from their homes by the Valley Fire, which is 20 miles north of the famed Napa Valley. He says about 10,000 people have been displaced from a second blaze less than 200 miles away in the Sierra Nevada.

People have packed evacuation centers as the fires have destroyed hundreds of homes and led to one confirmed death.

Ghilarducci says more residents are missing.

Many people are coming forward to help the displaced pets and residents.

Several hundred people chased from their homes by an explosive wildfire in Northern California spent the night at the Napa County Fairgrounds and awoke to a breakfast of eggs, bacon and doughnuts.

Donations of food, clothing and shoes, diapers and dog food have flooded in. Evacuees milled around Monday morning eating, picking up clothing and walking their dogs.

Nancy O' Byrne was evacuated from her home in Middletown, about 20 miles north of the famed Napa Valley, but it's still standing. She says she feels "very, very, very lucky."

Michael Alan Patrick had been at the fairgrounds since Saturday and lost everything in the blaze.

When the fire broke out, he had been sitting in a Middletown park with his friends and saw the flames coming. He said it was like looking through a tunnel.

Evacuees talk about having to leave their homes (at 2:28)

The number of homes destroyed in a Sierra Nevada wildfire in Amador and Calaveras counties has risen to 135, up from 81.

That fire was 30 percent contained on Monday.

A separate destructive wildfire burning 100 miles north of San Francisco has grown to 95 square miles.

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant says containment is at 5 percent.

The fire has destroyed 400 homes and many other structures including barns and outbuildings, and there's a report of a fatality.

Forecasters say Northern California weather conditions are changing as low pressure approaches the West Coast. That will mean cooling, increasing winds, higher humidity and showers, then more widespread precipitation Wednesday.