reporter: going from a spark to more than 10,000 acres in less than three hours. hundreds of firefighters are on the front lines battling steep terrain to save communities. racing to get out, randy miller grabbed his cats and left. i got in the car, it was so hot with the flames being around me, i thought i was going to blow tires. reporter: miller s home is okay, but kenny reynolds is not as fortunate. it looked like the fire department was trying to do some home protection. but it did not look good. it did not have chance. the neighbor s house was already engulfed when i left. reporter: helicopters are sweeping in, making crucial nighttime water drops. our station kabc capturing this fire whirl on a hillside. a tornado of flames. the fires burning in a rural part of l.a. county that hasn t seen fire activity since the late 60s. i was apprised this morning that we did lose several structures. reporter: firefighters now forced to battle extreme fires while also dealing w