When flames swept over the mountain like a "nuclear blast," Paul Hanssen ran from his burning home, a water-soaked towel around his head and dog by his side, and took shelter in a trailer. He waited nervously for two long hours as winds howled and embers flew by.

When the fire passed, he emerged, parched with thirst. He went to a nearby spring for water and screamed to see if anyone else was around.

No one answered.

Hanssen hurried toward his neighbors' house, where he found Sara Shepherd and her 17-year-old daughter, Kressa, lying on the ground, more than half their bodies burned. He called 9...