The toll of property losses from a deadly Northern California wildfire, the most destructive this year in the western United States, climbed on Tuesday to at least 585 homes and hundreds of other structures that have gone up in flames.
The latest tally, up from Monday's estimate of 400 homes razed, came as firefighters gained some ground against the blaze, which erupted on Saturday and raced through several communities in the hills north of Napa County's wine-producing region.
A group of evacuees whose homes were lost in the inferno were due to be escorted back to their neighborhoods for a brief chance to collect any belongings they were able to salvage from the ruins of their destroyed dwellings, fire officials said.