The fire came in the night, a storm without warning. At his home in Middletown, a small town of 1900 just north of California's idyllic wine country, veterinarian Jeff Smith ventured outside after the worst had passed to find only 8 of the 20 homes in his neighborhood survived the firestorm. With communication centers down, there was no way to determine when help was coming. He had no way of knowing what he was up against, or the fact that by this time only 40% of the structures in ... Read more »