California fire victims return home

15 fires burn, but calmer winds, rain predicted

SANTA ROSA, Calif. With the winds dying down, fire crews gained ground Monday as they battled wildfires that have devastated California wine country and other parts of the state over the past week, and thousands of people got the all-clear to return home.

While the danger from the deadliest, most destructive cluster of blazes in California history was far from over, the smoky skies started to clear in some places. People were being allowed to go back to homes in areas no longer in harm’s way, and the number of those under evacuation orders was down to 75,000 from nearly 100,000 the day before.

Many began to take the first steps toward rebuilding their lives.

“This is my home I’m going to come back without question,” said Howard Lasker, 56, who returned Sunday with his daughter to view their torched house in Santa Rosa. “I have to rebuild. I want to rebuild.”

Although the weather was still hot and dry Monday, calmer winds and the possibility of rain later in the week should help crews tamp down fires, said Scott Rowe, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. He predicted a quarter-inch would fall in Sonoma and Napa counties late Thursday.

“Any sort of moisture is welcome at this point,” he said.

The blazes were blamed for at least 40 deaths and destroyed some 5,700 homes and other structures. The death toll could climb as searchers dig through the ruins for people listed as missing.

Hundreds were unaccounted for, though authorities said many of them are probably safe but haven’t let anyone know.

In hard-hit Sonoma County, Sheriff Rob Giordano said authorities have located 1,560 of the more than 1,700 once listed as missing.

Authorities said they will not let people return home until it is safe and utilities are restored. Pacific Gas and Electric Company said it expected to restore power and gas to the area by Tuesday.

At the Sonoma fairgrounds, evacuees watched the San Francisco 49ers play the Redskins on television, received treatment from a chiropractor and got free haircuts.

Michael Estrada, who owns a barber shop in neighboring Marin County, brought his combs, clippers and scissors.

“I’m not saving lives,” he said. “I’m just here to make somebody’s day feel better, make them feel normal.”

Nearly 11,000 firefighters were still battling 15 fires burning across a 100-mile swath of the state.