thunderstorms that are predicted today, we are going to get increased fire for sure. >> reporter: it burned through a little more than four square miles of brush and trees in the park and neighboring national forest and private land. this picture-perfect image of the yosemite valley turned to this. the iconic granite walls grayed out by thick smoke. >> we can't take photos because of all the smoke. >> reporter: a similar situation 100 miles to the north, just east of sacramento, california, where at least 13 homes were left in ruins. >> i saw the flames. i couldn't believe it. >> reporter: firefighters say they almost had to cancel air drops because someone was flying their drone over the fire scene. that person was located and the drone grounded. so the fire fighting flights were not impacted. roughly 1,200 people have been allowed to return to their homes after fleeing the sand fire. the okee family lost everything. >> i was trying to save the home. just the fire came up so fast. >> reporter: strong winds. triple digit temperatures and