Story highlights Sheriff's office: Authorities tried to reach disabled elderly woman, but fire had engulfed her subdivision

A woman returns to her burned home, finds it "so much worse" than she expected

Several wildfires in Northern California have spread quickly, threatening thousands of homes

Calistoga, California (CNN) The Napa County Fairgrounds is usually a place you go to have fun -- to watch a race, enjoy a show or revel at a festival.

Now, it's a refuge.

The fairgrounds have become a tent city for some of the thousands displaced by fast-moving wildfires in Northern California, blazes that continued to rage Monday across parched terrain threatening more homes and more lives.

"I just want to go home, if I have a home anymore," said Melissa Canchola, who has pitched a tent in the fairgrounds for her and her four children. "... I don't think there's anything left."

She is among those affected by the Valley Fire, which has scorched more than 61,000 acres since starting Saturday. Already, hundreds of homes have been destroyed, and some 9,000 more are threatened, according to CalFire.

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