Harrowing videos show man escaping flames of Valley fire

The Valley fire exploded so quickly Saturday that residents had in some cases just minutes to escape.

Some told harrowing tales of escaping to safety. The local highways were jammed and filled with smoke. The smaller roads were lined by flames.

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“There were flames coming around my house,” said Wendy Gattoni, 49, a counselor for Middletown schools. “So I had to grab the animals and shove them in the car and get out. There were flames everywhere.”

More than 400 homes were lost and thousands fled. One resident from the area recorded these dramatic videos (two of them contain some expletives) showing what it was like to escape through the flames.

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Northern California fire updates: Valley fire burns 61,000 acres, 5% contained