history. >> oh, my god. this looks really bad. >> reporter: tens of thousands racing to evacuate. >> medford is, like, completely shut down right now. >> reporter: some of them making desperate last stands to protect property. >> you can see him right there on his tractor, trying to keep these flames at bay. >> reporter: towns along interstate 5, that major west coast artery, now smoldering ruins. >> we came about a half hour ago to see if there was anything saveable, but everything's gone. >> reporter: so many families losing everything. those out of control fires visible from space. huge plumes of smoke billowing thousands of feet into the air. i've been covering fires for half a dozen years or more, i've never seen anything like this. the sky completely orange at 11:00 in the morning. nearly the entire west coast of the country smothered in smoke. can barely see san francisco's golden gate bridge in the middle of the day. and north of sacramento, thousands fleeing the north complex fire. exploding in size, scorching 1,000 acres every 30 minutes.