As firefighters continued to battle the Mountain Fire on Saturday, some residents were allowed to return to areas ravaged by the fire to search the destruction for their homes.

The fire was 17% contained as of 7 a.m. Pacific Time on Saturday, according to Cal Fire, the state’s wildfire suppression agency.

Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said 10 people had been injured in the fires on Friday, the Associated Press reported.

He said most of the injuries were caused by smoke inhalation.

In a situation update on Saturday, Cal Fire said: “Weather conditions overnight remained favorable with temperatures in the upper 40s to lower 50s with light offshore currents remaining around 10 mph. Decreasing winds continue to aid crews in their aggressive fire attack. The terrain remains a challenge in some areas.”

The agency added: “Threats remain to critical infrastructure, highways and communities, while active fires continue to burn on islands with unburned fuel.”

But before you flee a forest fire, you have a decision to make: what to save. It often comes down to “the littlest things,” Dawn Deleon told ABC7 News. The Mountain Fire destroyed her home in Ventura County, California this week.

Cats, dogs and horses. Family photos and SD cards and memories. A single bag of clothes.

It’s a choice that’s becoming increasingly common as the man-made climate crisis adds fuel to the destructive wrath of wildfires around the world, especially in already fire-prone landscapes like Southern California, with its strong, flame-adapted Santa Ana winds vegetation rustle.

The power of fire is evident. Palm trees turn into silhouettes against a raging orange wall. Firefighters push a vintage car through a cloud of smoke. A woman holds a scarf to her masked face as she leads her horse away from a burning hill. Towering flames destroy houses down to their foundations.

“It’s never a matter of ‘if,’ but rather ‘when’ and ‘how big’ when it comes to wildfires in Southern California,” said Alex Hall, director of the Center for Climate Science at UCLA. He called the impact on lives, livelihoods and ecosystems “truly devastating.”

The flames forgive little. Lucky residents escape with their lives and the few things that matter most. The unfortunate lose the irreplaceable.

Often residents have to return to sift through ash and rubble. Every now and then comes a surprising relic – like a teapot with the word “blessed” in soot-covered cursive letters.

With thousands of residents forced to evacuate, some have also struggled to evacuate their horses.

Speaking to KTLA, equestrian trainer Robyn Fisher said she drove to a riding school to help evacuate stranded horses in Somis, a Ventura County community hardest hit by the fire.

Upon arriving at the facility, Fisher and her assistant discovered it was already on fire.

“We got there and loaded the horses as fast as we could,” Fisher told the outlet, adding, “You couldn’t see anything… There was fire all around us. You could feel the truck heating up.”

After getting the first group of horses to safety, Fisher rode back to help other horse owners.

Fisher recalled the scene to KTLA, saying she saw some animals tied to trees while others walked along the side of the road next to their owners.

“I stopped and said, ‘Do you need help?’ And they said, ‘Please, we don’t know what to do,'” she told the outlet.

Speaking to the Associated Press, resident Kelly Barton said her parents’ 20-year-old retirement home in Camarillo burned down completely.

“This was their retirement home forever,” Barton told the newspaper, adding: “Now that they are in their 70s, they have to start over.”

One of her father’s vintage cars — a Chevy Nova he had owned since he was 18 years old — was burned for “toast,” Barton said, the Associated Press reported.

Firefighters have recovered two safes and Barton’s parents’ collection of vintage door knockers.