A photograph shows the Valdivia family posing happily next to the "sold" sign in front of their new home on Viento Way in San Bernardino.

It was the first house they had ever owned - and, in the early hours of Thursday morning, it burned to the ground.

A wildfire roared down the hillside behind the house as Matt Valdivia loaded his family into the car and fled. He had to go back to pick up the dog he had forgotten.

He returned at first light as firefighters were still hosing down the smouldering ruins of his house.

Firefighters take a daring drive through wildfires

Two footballs in the garden and a plastic toy horse were about all that was recognisable.


All the effort over the last few months to create the family home they longed for was gone in a few hours, but Mr Valdivia said the "most important thing" was that "no one was hurt".

Image: Tony Marzullo says the fires have a 'mind of their own'

The house next door was also gutted. Everything else on Viento Way - Viento means wind in Spanish - survived a brush fire driven by a ferocious gale.

Tony Marzullo ignored the evacuation order and tried to save Matt's burning house but the fire was too fast-moving.

Tony can tell you the story of every house in the neighbourhood taken by every fire in recent years.

It seems that only nature knows the logic by which some survive and some burn. "These fires have a mind of their own," he said.

Image: Matt Valdivia's house has been reduced to smoke and ashes

As firefighters tried to put out hot spots to prevent any flare-ups, air tankers continued to drop fire retardant on the smouldering hillside behind.

San Bernardino has become the latest community to be hit in the roulette of this year's wildfire season. Another fire was burning in the Jurupa Valley not far away.

The winds that have caused such havoc in recent days have now eased, giving communities and firefighters a much-needed breather.

But wildfire season goes on - and the residents of Viento Way can attest to how quickly these fires can arrive and turn lives upside down.