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US President Barack Obama declares major disaster in California fire

Charlie Liethen, right, embraces Sharon Dawson, who lost her home… A 1991 fire in the Oakland Hills ranks as California’s deadliest fire and its worst in the number of structures (2,900) destroyed.

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On Monday morning, Auburn’s Salvation Army sent a team from its Emergency Disaster Services Ministry, lead by Gail Selby, to one of the evacuation centers at the Valley Fire, according to Core Helper, Angela Attenberry.

(Vern Fisher/The Monterey County Herald via AP).

On Monday evening, a man allegedly pushed and attempted to punch a firefighter who asked him to leave his home in the 37700 block of Tassajara Road because of safety concerns, sheriff’s officials said.

“In other disaster areas, people can go down to the local Days Inn, but here people are coming back to their homes and it’s nothing but ash”, he said. Her little “piece of heaven”, flanked by trees as high as she could see, was gone.

The fire that burned down Eaton’s house was still a danger to 6,500 homes as of Sunday. This isn’t where I live, ‘ ” she said Monday.

The massive Valley Fire, already the sixth-most damaging blaze in California history, continued to burn amid high temperatures Sunday as crews build fire lines to bring it under control.

The declaration issued Tuesday for the fire that broke out in Lake County 90 miles north of San Francisco releases federal money for recovery and cleanup.

“The biggest challenge is there aren’t enough hotel rooms in Lake County“, County Supervisor Jim Comstock said.

Meanwhile, Cal Fire is making a final push to contain the Valley and Butte fires.

The blaze was three-quarters contained Tuesday, but more than 3,000 buildings were still at risk. Most of that destruction was in Lake County, where more than 1,200 houses and apartment complexes burned.

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Two firefighters were killed battling two other California wildfires in August, and three more died together in an initial assault against a major wildfire in August in Washington state. At its peak, more than 19,000 people were ordered to evacuate.

FEMA administrator tours Valley Fire damage