Take away the odd fire investigator or police patrol car and Middletown in California would be a ghost town.
There is very little for many residents to return to.
The small mountain community, just north of Napa wine country, took the full force of the Valley Fire that continues to rage across Northern California.
At least one person died here, an elderly woman who could not escape and was beyond the reach of emergency crews.
Her neighbours had raced to safety as the fire - described by officials as the most destructive and unpredictable in California for decades - swept in on Saturday.
Hundreds of buildings were destroyed. Much of what survived now stands twisted by the melting heat.
There is a randomness to how some blocks were wiped out and others left standing. An apartment block at the corner of Main Street and Barnes has completely gone.
The Valley Fire is just one of a dozen burning across California. The Butte Fire, a hundred miles to the east, has claimed dozens of homes. Another blaze, the Rough Fire, is bigger than both.
Drought conditions, a heatwave and strong winds have created the perfect conditions for fires which have exhausted fire crews and firefighting budgets.
But few have seen anything like what happened in Middletown.
Joyce Reim and Everett Francis filmed their escape, as flames bore down on their car.
