Hurricane force winds returned to Northern California on Saturday, revitalizing the massive Tubbs fire that’s destroyed much of Santa Rosa. With the fire headed toward the few neighborhoods in the city of 140,000 that haven’t already been destroyed, state authorities ordered thousands more residents to evacuate as residents in some of the hardest hit neighborhoods began venturing back into the city to see what, if anything remains of their homes.

An estimated 3,000 people in Santa Rosa and at least 250 people in Sonoma evacuated their homes before dawn, the Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, the death toll for what was the deadliest week for wildfires in California history has climbed to 40, while 5,700 homes and businesses have been destroyed.

Fortunately, the winds that have stoked the fires started to die down Saturday afternoon. And with temperatures dropping on Sunday, firefighters have finally been able to go on the office and make meaningful advances in their attempts to contain the flames.

Officials said Sunday they are making good progress on the Tubbs and Atlas fires, which have devastated much of Sonoma and Napa counties. Both were fires were more than 50% contained by mid-morning Sunday, the LA Times reported. Fifteen fires continue to burn across A 100-mile swath of the state. So far, they’ve ravaged more than 220,000 acres.

Meanwhile, the Nuns Fire, which continued to rage in Sonoma County, has burned 47,106 acres and is 25 percent contained. There were no reports of new evacuation orders early Sunday in the areas affected by the fires, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

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Over five days, the cluster of wildfires that’ve broken out in California’s wine country have claimed at least 31 lives – making this the deadliest week for wildfires in the state’s history. And with the remains of many incinerated homes still too hot to enter, authorities say that number is likely to climb – perhaps significantly – as elderly residents of the afflicted communities were blindsided by the fires’ ferocity, and many were unable to flee in time.

The average age of the 10 victims whose names have been released is 75, state officials said. The youngest was 57.

Whole neighborhoods have been reduced to smoldering rubble. Meanwhile, an army of firefighters have had little success trying to suppress the flames; the largest conflagrations continue to burn virtually unimpeded. Local firefighters, many of whom have worked for days on end with little or no sleep despite their own homes having burned to the ground, are finally being relieved by reinforcements from out of state, CNN reported.

Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano described the grim reality of the body recovery efforts, which he said had only just begun.

“We’re moving into a recovery phase,” Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said. “That is the reality part of it.”

Speaking late Thursday, Giordano said that two more bodies had been recovered as search teams moved into areas where people had been reported missing in the wake of the fires.

“We have found bodies almost completely intact, and we have found bodies that were nothing more than ash and bones,” Giordano said.

California’s iconic wine country – comprising Sonoma and Napa counties – has been particularly hard hit, as have Mendocino, Yuba, Nevada, Butte and Orange counties. As of late Thursday, 21 fires spanned 300 square miles – up from 8 on Tuesday. Most are still less than 10% contained. So far, more than 3,000 homes and businesses have been destroyed, as NPR reported.

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With at least 29 dead, and over 3500 houses destroyed, the devastating series of fires that has ravaged Northern California’s Wine Country has to be seen to be believed. As smoke clogs the air up to 100 miles away and with schools and sports programs shut down across the entire NorCal region, this disaster is already being called states deadliest wildfire in history.

“These fires are a long way from being contained, so we’re doing the best we can for people that have been displaced and help them to hopefully rebuild their lives” said Barry Dugan, a Sonoma County spokesman.

Entire neighborhoods have been lost…

But the park survived…

But Kmart was not so lucky…

As the following shocking aerial footage shows, there is nothing left of some of the states (and country’s) most beautiful places to live…

Wildfires that have been raging across Northern California’s “wine country” since Sunday have destroyed at least four wineries and seriously damaged at least nine more just as the season’s harvest came to an end. The damage could leave one of the state’s signature industry’s hobbled for years, according to NBC.

Of course, assessing the scope of the damage will be impossible until the fires subside. The Napa Valley Vintners trade association has not heard from all members, especially those in the most vulnerable parts of the valley.  By the time the fires started on Sunday – accelerated by dry conditions and strong winds -about 90% grapes had been picked. And most of the remaining crop of thick-skinned cabernet sauvignon grapes not expected to be affected by the smoke.

Most wineries remain closed from power outages and mandatory evacuation orders.

What remains of the Signorello Estate winery…

At the Gundlach Bundschu – the oldest family-run winery in California, started in 1858 – in Sonoma County, workers were not sure whether the grapes above the winery survived the fires, Fox reported.

Katie Bundschu, a sixth-generation vintner, recounted a scary Monday night in which the flames licked at the perimeter of the winery but were beaten back by firefighters. A century-old redwood barn and her grandmother’s 1919 home were spared.

“The winery was in the path of the fire but escaped being engulfed by the flames. We have some damage to fix. The wine is secure in our cellars. We are cleaning up and hoping to have the power back on this week,” Bundschu said.

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