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Northern California Wildfires Destroy Hundreds Of Structures, Threaten Thousands More

SACRAMENTO (CBS/AP) - Two fires burning in Northern California have destroyed at least 720 homes and are threatening thousands of other structures.

Cal Fire says 585 houses were destroyed by the Valley Fire in Lake County. The fire that started Saturday is threatening another 9,000 structures in Sonoma and Napa Counties.

As of 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, the fire had grown to 67,000 acres and is 15 percent contained.

RELATED: Latest Valley Fire statistics, evacuation orders and road closures

The communities of Cobb and Middletown were heavily damaged by the fire. Shirley Leuzinger lived in her home in Middletown for 15 years before it was destroyed. So was the one across the street, where she and her husband previously lived for 10 years and raised their children.

Leuzinger said Monday she had seen TV images of her home burning and some neighbors had taken photos of the destruction, but it wasn't until she saw it with her own eyes that the grief set in.

She says she's thankful her family and three dogs are safe. She's also thankful she was able to grab a few pictures and some important papers.

The family of a disabled woman found dead in the ruins of her home destroyed by the Valley Fire have identified her as 72-year-old Barbara McWilliams.

McWilliams' family says in a brief statement she was a retired teacher who had settled in the Middletown area in the last year.

Her caretaker, Jennifer Hittson, says McWilliams had advanced multiple sclerosis and had major physical disabilities that limited her ability to walk.

Hittson says she left McWilliams' home at about 3 p.m. Saturday. She says she realized how serious the fire had become after getting home and called authorities to go help the woman.

Deputies and officers responded to the area around 7:30 p.m. but were unable to reach the subdivision because it had already been engulfed in flames.

At least eight firefighters are among those who lost their homes to a fast-moving, drought-fueled wildfire in Northern California.

The union that represents 6,500 firefighters launched a fundraising campaign Monday for the eight victims. Mike Lopez, president of Cal Fire Local 2881, says two or three other firefighters may have lost their homes as well.

None of the firefighters or their families was hurt. Lopez says several of the firefighters were battling blazes in Northern California when they heard of the flames reaching their homes.

Separately, four firefighters are recovering from second-degree burns they suffered in the Valley Fire.

The Butte Fire, which is burning about 120 miles to the southeast in the Amador and Calaveras counties in the Sierra Nevada foothills, has decimated 135 homes.

Cal Fire says another 6,000 structures are on the path of that blaze.

As of 7:30 a.m., the fire had grown to 71,660 acres and is 37% contained.

RELATED: Latest Butte Fire statistics, evacuation orders and road closures

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