US President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in Northern California on Tuesday as firefighters continued battling massive wildfires that have killed three people and destroyed more than a thousand homes and over 76,000 acres of forested land—the third most destructive wildfire in California history, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The Valley fire, the most destructive of the wildfires, was 79 percent contained as of Tuesday, officials said. Mike Smith, a Cal Fire battalion chief, said about 3,300 firefighters were still fighting the fire Tuesday but that the fire's spread had been halted.

Obama's declaration of a major disaster will allow federal assistance to residents victimised by the fire, a White House statement said.

California Gov. Jerry Brown had earlier requested the President to make such a declaration. In his request, Brown said, "four years of extreme drought conditions have parched our landscapes and created millions of dead trees that have increased California's vulnerability to these types of fires."

Meanwhile, the Butte fire burning in Calaveras and Amador counties was reported to be 82 percent contained. It had burned 70,868 acres and destroyed more than 400 homes and hundreds of other structures.

Hundreds of Californians displaced by the Valley have begun returning to their homes only to find everything turned to embers and ashes.

The National Interagency Fire Center said nearly 9 million acres of forested land have been burned this year.

Four years of drought in California have provided dry tinder for the fires.

In the town of Anderson Springs, Findley Jennings' house was burned to the ground and she's currently staying at the Napa County Fairgrounds evacuation centre. She told the Los Angeles Times that she's not ready to rebuild.

Aquiara Tulley is aiming to rebuild her home but said it will never be the same.

"I don't know. I don't know if I can bear it emotionally," she said. "It will never be the same. It's going to be a different neighbourhood."

She added that Anderson Springs is "too special" that "it can't not exist. I cannot imagine Anderson Springs not rebuilding."