Wildfires continue to spread, destroy homes; death toll reaches 40

The fiery fates of Wine Country’s two famed valleys parted ways Saturday, as winds gave Napa Valley a reprieve but put new pressures on Sonoma Valley. Firefighters made progress against Napa Valley’s Atlas fire, with containment growing around a blaze that as of Saturday had claimed six lives. But fears were growing in Sonoma Valley, where the Nuns Fire has surged along two different flanks: one toward the historic downtown of Sonoma and the other into eastern Santa Rosa, still reeling from the earlier Tubbs fire, which has killed at least 22 people. All told, the number of confirmed deaths from all the North Bay blazes rose to 40. “This is the cutest town in the nation,” said Sonoma resident Paul Giles, fearful for his home, nestled amid tall trees a few miles east of downtown. “It would be so terrible to see this town go down.”...more