residents ran for their lives, and kimberly harper escaped the home she owned for 16 years.rned to the ground. the homes of her two sons are gone. >> it was a wall of fire behind us when we left. scariest thing ever. i -- i'm still in shock. >> reporter: firefighters from the bay area say what happened in middletown reminds them of the oakland hills fire 24 years ago. >> absolutely. i have not seen the whole fire, but the piece we're on, absolutely. >> reporter: yet in the middle of devastation, release for some. jose martinez thought his house burned, but instead, it's one of the few standing. >> i'm lucky. i'm lucky. that's all i can say. i mean, i don't know why, but, you know, my house still stands. >> reporter: now, there is no water or power in middletown so for the people whose homes did not burn down, no word on when they will be restored. live in middletown. >> thank you very much. >> check out the before and after picture showing the devil's station in middletown, this is jefferson court. this google earth image shows a home on street before the fire and now after

. >> kimberly harper feels lucky to be alive. >> all of our houses are gene. >> destroying her home october cobb mt. along with her two sons' houses. this middletown home belongs to a friend but it alsoen burned to the ground. everyone is safe but the family pet vanished during the chaos. >> my cat, i just don't want him to suffer. >> the ferocious wall of flames moved toward middletown like a freight train. the total number of homes lost will be staggering. >> as far as an estimate of homes, wearing going to be pushing close to a thousand. >> cal fire says the valley fire has been unpredictable, breaking all the rules. >> it went in every direction imaginable. fingers, solve lid no consistency whatsoever. >> what was your plan of attack? >> try to fine a structure we could protect or a block we could protect. >> but that wasn't easy. firefighters made stand against the fire on this street and able to save five houses. but across the street not so lucky. the fire was too intense, car after car and home after home gone. >> jose martinez thought his house would be gone bus his place, one of t

. >> kimberly harper feels lucky to be alive. >> all of our houses are gene. >> destroying her home october cobb mt. along with her two sons' houses. this middletown home belongs to a friend but it alsoen burned to the ground. everyone is safe but the family pet vanished during the chaos. >> my cat, i just don't want him to suffer. >> the ferocious wall of flames moved toward middletown like freight train. the total number of homes lost will be staggering. >> as far as an estimate of homes, wearing going to be pushing close to a thousand. >> cal fire says the valley fire has been unpredictable, breaking all the rules. >> it went in every direction imaginable. fingers, solve lid no consistency whatsoever. >> what was your plan of attack? >> try to fine a structure we could protect or a block we could protect. >> but that wasn't easy. firefighters made stand against the fire on this street and able to save five houses. but across the street not so lucky. the fire was too intense, car after car and home after home gone. >> jose martinez thought his house would be gone bus his place, one of the

we have been talking to folks who have sadly lost their homes, kimberly harper lost her hem, her two sons' homes also burned. >> awe know, i grabbed a few things. i grabbed a couple photo albums. you think you'll be prepared, and you're not. to grand the handle of clothes for or husband. we got our dog, couldn't get our cat because she ran and hid. and so-so photo albums and everything else is gone. my kids grabbed clothes. they lost everything they own. they're representers so don't have insurance or anything. i'm more worried about them right now, i think, than us. >> reporter: kimberly says the main thing is everyone got out safely except for the family cat. most of downtown middletown survived the fire just fine, along with local schools. they're fine. twin pines casino is also still standing, but closed this weekend, obviously. as for this neighborhood and others in -- to save these places. we're live in middletown, abc7 news. >> thank you very much. what a terrifying scene behind him. the fire is so intense and erratic it's creating its own weather conditions, make it ill chall

. >> kimberly harper escaped the home she has owned for 16 years on cobb mountain. it was destroyed. her two sons lost their homes as well and this was the ohm of a friend where she planned to take refuge but it also burned to the ground. but everyone is safe. >> i grabbed a couple of photo albums and you think you're going to be prepared. you're not. >> dozen of homes are gone. neighborhoods reduced to an eerie moonscape. cars melted down to scrap. the total number of homes lost will be staggering. >> as far as an estimate of homes, we're going to be pushing close to a thousand. >> reporter: the firefighters were able to save many homes, jose martinez says his neighbor's places are gone, his still standing. >> i'm lucky. i'm lucky guy. that's all i can say. i don't know why, but my house still up. >> reporter: some bay area firefighters say this place, a haunting reminder of the 1991 oakland hills fire. >> you were there. what do you think? >> probably, yeah. absolutely. >> reporter: amid the rubble we found this. a garden gate and poignant greeting for all to see.

. >> kimberly harper lost her home and so did the friend she was hoping to stay with. much of the small town of middleton was destroyed. the entire scene was perry scoped. >> every engine has multiple structures to protect. >> reporter: at least 400 homes lost so far. that number is expected to grow. >> as far as an estimate of homes, we are going to tampa bay pushing close to a thousand. >> reporter: four firefighters overtaken by the blaze are now in stable condition. one of them gives a thumbs up from the hospital burn unit. 165 miles southeast another wildfire rages. >> extreme fire behavior. it burned on all sides. >> reporter: the butte fire destroyed more than 80 homes and burned more than 65,000 acres. thousands of homeowners are thankful for calmer winds and higher humidity to help firefighters catch up. stay with eyewitness news and abc news for updates on the california wildfires. "good morning america" picks up our coverage live report from middletown, california, beginning at 7:00. >>> european ministers are meeting in brussels to figure out what to do wit