Roof tiles had been burned off. Soot feathered the edges of the windows.

Still, there was no mistaking the tiny blue house, one of several like it in downtown Lower Lake, Calif.

Habitat for Humanity, read the sign outside the house, still intact. Building Homes. Building Lives.

“Oh, that’s our office,” he said he remembered thinking, with dismay. “It’s totaled.”

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Yes, this branch of Habitat for Humanity — a nonprofit organization that helps build homes for the underprivileged — was now homeless.

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The Habitat office was just one of nearly 200 structures in the area destroyed over the weekend by the Clayton Fire, which began Saturday about 100 miles north of San Francisco. The blaze exploded rapidly, fueled by dry and windy conditions, and forced nearly 1,500 people in the area to flee their homes, California fire officials said.

On Monday, California authorities arrested Damin Anthony Pashilk, a 40-year-old man suspected of setting the fire, and charged him with multiple counts of arson.

Ironically, the Habitat branch was in the midst of a campaign to help rebuild houses lost to the area’s devastating wildfires in 2015 when its office was totaled.

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Birk told The Washington Post that the group was working to rebuild dozens of the 1,300 homes destroyed last year. As of Tuesday, he was confident that homes being built new were not affected but was unsure about houses undergoing major repairs, because authorities had blocked access to many of the areas where Habitat had been working.

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“There’s still some unknowns there,” Birk said. “The good news is we haven’t heard of any fatalities of any kind in this fire.”

On Monday, with no physical office to go to work in, Lake County Habitat’s employees remained scattered around the county. Some, like Birk, worked from home. One went to update the nonprofit’s website, starting with an unusual plea for assistance: this time for the Habitat branch.

“Habitat Lake County desperately needs new office space, and donations of money and buildable lots are urgently needed to help rebuild homes destroyed in the fires of both last year and this year,” the update read in part. “We will assess community needs as we are able and resume work as quickly as possible. If you know of available office space…”

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Birk said he hopes to find substitute office space soon so that his staff can get back to helping others rebuild.

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The loss of the small, historic house that used to be the group’s office is unfortunate in many ways, but “we’re going to be resilient here,” he said.

“It was perfect for us. It was kind of a base for the community,” Birk said. “If that building was still there, people would already be coming to us right away. This time, there’s nothing there to go to at this point.”

Main Street in Lower Lake on the day after the Clayton Fire rolled through the town. Some buildings made it and some didn't. Video by Bob Minenna. Posted by Lake County Record-Bee on Monday, August 15, 2016