nbc lonnie is live in ukia with latest. lonnie? >> reporter: yes, dan, we are here at ukia high school, it's been closed for several days. gi gym is now a shelter. cal-fire says there is only 5% containment. the sound of tree cutting crews is the only lively sound in this leveled mendocino county community. they are chopping them down to prevent any further destruction after a wildfire swept through redwood valley late sunday night. >> fire got here at like 2:00 a.m. but we woke up at about 1 to 1:15 a.m. and family were calling us from potter valley trying to wake us up. >> reporter: his family made it out but stim smith is still processing the devastation around his property. many of his neighbors lost everything. >> i don't feel like it's really hit me yet. kind of just been running around putting out spot fires around our neighborhood making sure we were good. >> reporter: firefighters are battling two fires in mendocino county. 8 people have died. 8,000 others are displaced. but the situation is changing by the day. >> today i