(15 Sep 2015) FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: apus038252

An explosive wildfire burned largely unchecked Monday after incinerating hundreds of homes and devastating rural communities north of California's Napa Valley, leaving at least one person dead and sending tens of thousands fleeing down flame-lined streets.
But it's not the only one. A second massive blaze, less than 200 miles away, destroyed 135 homes as it spread through Amador and Calaveras counties in the Sierra Nevada. That fire was 30 percent contained.
Both fires have displaced 23,000 people.
The fire exploded in size within hours as it chewed through brush and trees parched from four years of drought, destroying 400 homes, two apartment complexes and 10 businesses since igniting Saturday, Cal Fire spokeswoman Lynn Valentine said.
Residents fled from Middletown, a town of more than 1,000 residents, dodging smoldering telephone poles, downed power lines and fallen trees as they drove through billowing smoke.

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