As California's Carr Fire Continues to Burn, Evacuees Return Home to Survey Damage

As a massive wildfire continues to torch entire square miles of land, burning through tinder-dry vegetation in sweltering heat and windy conditions, some residents were allowed to return to the remains of their burned homes to survey the damage on Thursday.

"I'm waiting to probably break down any minute here. Pretty overwhelming," Carol Smith, who stood on the sidewalk with her family near her destroyed home, in disbelief as she spoke to the Associated Press. "We pretty much lost everything."

While Smith and her family were allowed to return to the site where their home once stood, tens of thousands remain under evacuation orders, as the situation remains too dangerous for residents to go home.

(MORE: Six of California's 10 Most Destructive Fires Have Occurred in the Last 10 Months)

The so-called Carr Fire, burning on the west side of Redding, some 150 miles north of Sacramento, has claimed the lives of six people and destroyed more than 1,500 structures, 1,000 of which were homes. It's now the sixth most destructive wildfire in state history, according to Cal Fire records. It's also the 13th-deadliest and 20th-largest wildfire the Golden State has seen since records began.

More than 35,000 residents were displaced as 206 square miles burned – an area twice the size of Sacramento.

"It looked like an atomic bomb went off," Redding resident Josh Lister, who lost his home to the blaze, told CNN.com.

"Whatever resources are needed, we're putting them there," California Gov. Jerry Brown told reporters. "We're being surprised. Every year is teaching the fire authorities new lessons. We're in uncharted territory."

Another wildfire, known as the Ferguson Fire, has burned more than 114 square miles near Yosemite National Park. Two people have died in that fire, which is 41 percent contained.

Summer camps near Yosemite National Park evacuated Tuesday. The park, which has been closed since last week, will not reopen until Sunday at the earliest, officials said.

"We’ve had 17 fires before," California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection battalion chief and information officer Jonathan Cox told the Los Angeles Times. "But these are impacting communities – and they’re large fires, not small."

Nearly 20,000 people were ordered to evacuate in Lake and Mendocino counties as two blazes encroached on several towns surrounding Clear Lake. Evacuations were expanded again Thursday as the fire grew and threatened new residential areas.

More than 40 homes were destroyed, and the fires threatened at least 9,200 more structures. The wildfires have burned 240 square miles, but containment has increased significantly for several days, according to Cal Fire.

About 14,000 people are impacted by the evacuation orders, according to KCRA.com.