(CNN) While firefighters continue to battle the fires in Northern California, a number of evacuees are being allowed to head home. Some of them are discovering they've lost everything.

One of them was Janice Mathis, who found a heap of mangled metal, rocks and blackened trees in place of her three-bedroom, three-bath house.

But she considered herself lucky to be alive, she said.

"I'm realizing you don't put your boots on and your gloves on and go sift through stuff," Mathis told CNN affiliate KOVR. "There's nothing to sift through."

"The first thing we think of is we're fortunate," she said.

Mathis' home in Napa is one of thousands reduced to smoldering ruins since the wildfires began October 8.

With more than a dozen fires still burning, 11,000 firefighters are not only battling the blazes, but painstakingly combing the rubble in incinerated neighborhoods, looking for victims.

At least 40 people have died and more than 200 people are reported missing. And those who made it out alive are returning home to a heartbreaking new reality.

Latest developments

An estimated 217,000 acres have burned, according to a Sunday update from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). An estimated 5,700 structures have been destroyed.

Approximately 75,000 people have been evacuated, Cal Fire said.

The 50,000-plus Atlas fire in Napa and Solano counties was 56% contained as of Sunday -- up from 3% three days earlier.

The Nuns fire in Sonoma County had consumed more than 47,000 acres and was 25% contained.

Sonoma County was assessing damage on Sunday, the sheriff's office said, to determine if evacuated residents could soon return home.

The city of Napa lifted its evacuation orders Sunday, according to a tweet from the city's verified Twitter page.

'Devastation is just unbelievable'

The outbreak of wildfires has become one of the deadliest in the state history, according to Cal Fire.

Gov. Jerry Brown, and U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris, toured areas hit by fires Saturday.

"This is truly one of the greatest, if not the greatest tragedy that California has ever faced," Brown said. "The devastation is just unbelievable, is a horror that no one could have imagined."

Brown announced Friday the state secured federal aid to assist residents who suffered losses and additional funding to remove debris and take emergency protective measures.

"We are not out of the woods yet, there's still fires burning. There's still danger," Brown said.

Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Aerial images showing parts of Sonoma and Napa County that have been hit by wildfires. Hide Caption 1 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Colby Clark, left, comforts her mother, Bonnie Trexler, after law enforcement escorted them to Trexler's home in Napa, California, to retrieve medicine and personal items on Wednesday, October 11. Trexler was one of the lucky few in her neighborhood whose home was spared. Deadly wildfires have been tearing through the state, destroying homes and businesses and prompting evacuation orders. Hide Caption 2 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Highway Patrol officers go door to door to ask Sonoma residents to evacuate their homes as a wildfire approaches on October 11. Hide Caption 3 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Homes are destroyed in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa on October 11. Hide Caption 4 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California The sign of a Firestone store malfunctions in Santa Rosa on Tuesday, October 10. Hide Caption 5 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Damaged winemaking vats and tanks stand in ashes and debris at the Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa. Hide Caption 6 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Smoke clouds the sun from wildfires burning in Santa Rosa and Napa Valley on October 10. Hide Caption 7 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Mary Caughey, center in blue, reacts after finding her wedding ring in the remains of her home in Kenwood on October 10. Hide Caption 8 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Puddles of melted metal trail away from a burned-out car near Napa on October 10. Hide Caption 9 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California A TV cameraman inches closer to a burning building at a winery in Napa Valley on Monday, October 9. Hide Caption 10 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California A firefighting plane helps battle a blaze just north of Tustin on October 9. Hide Caption 11 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California A historic barn burns in Santa Rosa on October 9. Hide Caption 12 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California The Santa Rosa Hilton Hotel burns to the ground on October 9. Hide Caption 13 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Jim Stites watches as part of his neighborhood burns in Fountaingrove on October 9. Hide Caption 14 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Fire burns from an open gas valve near the pool area of a Santa Rosa trailer park on October 9. Hide Caption 15 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California A man rushes to save his house as a wildfire moves through Glen Ellen on October 9. Hide Caption 16 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Kristine Pond searches what's left of her family's home in Santa Rosa on October 9. Hide Caption 17 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Police cars block State Route 241 as smoke rises above Orange on October 9. Hide Caption 18 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California A firefighter douses flames in Santa Rosa on October 9. Hide Caption 19 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California A woman moves horses in Orange as strong Santa Ana winds blow smoke from the Canyon 2 fire toward them on October 9. Hide Caption 20 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California A firefighter douses flames at a home in Anaheim on October 9. Hide Caption 21 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Traffic backs up as people flee Orange on October 9. Hide Caption 22 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Santa Rosa residents sift through the remains of a burned home on October 9. Hide Caption 23 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California The remains of fire-damaged homes and cars smolder at a Santa Rosa trailer park on October 9. Hide Caption 24 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California A tent structure built for the Safeway Open golf tournament burns in Napa on October 9. Hide Caption 25 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Fire consumes a barn in Glen Ellen on October 9. Hide Caption 26 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Smoke rises in the hills east of Napa on October 9. Hide Caption 27 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California A man passes a burning house in Napa on October 9. Hide Caption 28 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California The remains of fire-damaged homes are seen in Glen Ellen on October 9. Hide Caption 29 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California A wildfire burns behind the Sonoma Raceway on October 9. Hide Caption 30 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California A building burns in Napa on October 9. Hide Caption 31 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Flames overtake a building in the Napa wine region on October 9. Hide Caption 32 of 33 Photos: Wildfires blaze in California Two women hug as they watch houses burn in Santa Rosa on October 9. Hide Caption 33 of 33

In Santa Rosa, Penny Wright tearfully walked through the debris of where her home once stood. With burned cars, concrete and twisted metal scattered everywhere, it was hard to tell which one was her house.

"All your life savings and work for all the years is gone," she said. "We lived here 10 years, I never thought that Santa Rosa would have a fire like this and we would lose everything."

Ernie Chapman's home was gone, but he said his dogs saved his life by waking him up during the fire.

"I'm glad to be here. I'm glad to have my dogs. You can replace this stuff but life's most important," the Santa Rosa resident said.

New fire threatens Santa Rosa

Several thousand more people were ordered Saturday to evacuate from Santa Rosa as a new wildfire threatened the area.

Mandatory evacuations were issued when winds picked up and the new blaze erupted along state Highway 12 between two other wildfires that have been burning for days.

A large part of Santa Rosa, a city of 175,000 people roughly 50 miles northwest of San Francisco, was evacuated earlier when wildfires began.

Firefighters battle a wildfire Saturday in Santa Rosa

The more than a dozen wildfires have burned for days, but authorities said they had a "handle on the fire" and firefighters were making progress.

"We will continue to aggressively attack and keep (the fire) contained," said Napa County Fire Chief Barry Biermann in a Sunday press conference. "But we are making a tremendous progress out there."

The county is switching gears and turning its focus towards recovery, said Napa County spokeswoman Belia Ramos.

In a press conference Sunday afternoon, officials said they were "optimistic" about the progress being made against the fires in Sonoma County, where 22 people have died. "Things feel good in our gut as firefighters," said Bret Gouvea, deputy chief of Cal Fire, noting authorities are remaining cautious.

Authorities are also planning for evacuees to return home eventually.

"Our top priority as I said all along, as soon as we evacuate people, is to start looking when we can repopulate," Gouvea said.

"Over the next 24 hours you'll see a lot of repopulation plans coming out," he said, adding that authorities will "phase those repopulations in" so residents don't all attempt to return at once, causing traffic congestion and possibly safety hazards.

Shooting survivor loses home to wildfires

All through Northern California, residents are starting to return home after the fires wiped out entire neighborhoods. Michaella Flores was in Las Vegas at the Route 91 Harvest Festival when a gunman opened fire on the crowd, killing 58 and wounding hundreds. She returned to Santa Rosa unharmed but days later, the fires destroyed home

The former firefighter and paramedic has seen her fair share of emergency situations. But she says the past couple of weeks have made her start seeing things from a different perspective.

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"It's just a very helpless feeling," she said. "I just thought, well, I've been in these situations before. It shouldn't be a big deal."

"But when it's happening to you, it's a whole different realm."

Flores said she still hasn't fully come to terms with what she's faced this month.

"I don't sleep. I haven't had any time to process any of this," she said.