“Some rescues have been gut-wrenching: firefighters pushed through wait-high mud to reach a 14-year-old girl caked in mud from head to toe. She had been trapped for hours in a pile of wood that was once her house.” First SoCal had the fires. Now, heavy rains have turned the affected areas into deadly mudslides that have washed out roads, destroyed houses, and killed at least 15 people.

+ Pacific Standard: “In some spots, fire burned with such extreme intensity that it incinerated all vegetation and ‘cooked’ the soil underneath.”

+ Some photos from the scene.