It's been a hot, dry and fiery summer for the residents ofCalifornia.

The level of destruction from California wildfires is so badthat officials don't yet have a total count of destroyed homes,according to NBC News.

In the aftermath of all these wildfires, somebody has to figureout exactly what burned. It's painstaking and important work.

Determining the extent of damage

Operating from a mobile command center just south of a58-square-mile blaze, Fire Marshal Mike Horton recently led a teamof 15 investigators, technicians, hazardous materials experts andothers responsible for determining the extent and nature of thedamages, ABC News reported.

According to Horton, properties are often so decimated that it'sdifficult to know if a smoking ash heap was a home, a trailer or awater tank. Technicians consult mobile computer applications thatcan download geographic data and county assessors' information tolearn what might have been there before flames swept through.Numerous photos are taken and each scene gets a description of whatthe team saw.

Fires now burning

Here's a list of some of the fires now burning in California(numbers updated Tuesday, Aug. 23), according to the Los Angeles Times:

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  • Chimney fire: 37,101 acres burned and 52structures destroyed in San Luis Obispo County; 35 percentcontained (as of Tuesday); began Aug. 13.
  • Blue Cut fire: 37,020 acres burned, 105 homesand 213 other structures destroyed near the 15 Freeway in CajonPass; 100 percent contained (as of Tuesday); began Aug. 16.
  • Clayton fire: 3,929 acres burned and 300structures destroyed near Clear Lake; 96 percent contained (as ofTuesday); began Aug. 13.
  • Rey fire: 29,664 acres burned north of SantaBarbara in Los Padres National Forest; 30 percent contained (as ofTuesday); began Aug. 18.
  • Soberanes fire: 87,316 acres burned, oneperson killed and 68 structures destroyed in Monterey County; 60percent contained (as of Tuesday); began July 22.
  • Cedar fire: 17,986 acres burned in KernCounty; 10 percent contained (as of Sunday morning); began Aug.16.

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Firefighters battle a wildfire as it crosses Cajon Boulevardin Keenbrook, Calif., on Wednesday, Aug. 17. Firefighters had atleast established a foothold of control of the blaze the day afterit broke out for unknown reasons in the Cajon Pass near Interstate15, the vital artery between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Five yearsof drought have turned the state's wildlands into a tinder box,with eight fires currently burning from Shasta County in the farnorth to Camp Pendleton just north of San Diego. (Photo: NoahBerger/AP Photo)

A burned out residence stands amid rubble on Highway 138after the Blue Cut Fire burned through Phelan, Calif., on Thursday,Aug. 18. (Photo: Noah Berger/AP Photo)

In this photo provided by the San Bernardino County FireDepartment, a San Bernardino Fire Department firefighter works witha cadaver dog searching the ruins for anyone who may have beenoverrun by the flames of a wildfire along State Route 138, inPhelan, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 17 (Photo: Louis Penna/SanBernardino County Fire Department via AP Photo)

Seen in a long exposure nighttime photograph, a burned vanrests in a lot while a wildfire glows on the horizon in Phelan,Calif., early Thursday, Aug. 18. (AP Photo/NoahBerger)

A property smolders on Highway 138 during day two of theBlue Cut fire in West Cajon Valley, Calif., Wednesday, Aug. 17. Awildfire with a ferocity never seen before by veteran Californiafirefighters raced up and down canyon hillsides, instantlyengulfing homes and forcing thousands of people to flee, somerunning for their lives just ahead of the flames. (Photo: AlexGallardo/AP Photo)

In this Tuesday, Aug. 16, photo, fire threatens a housenorth of Devore, Calif. Officials in charge of the battle againstCalifornia's newest huge wildfire estimate that only about half ofthe 4,500 residents of the threatened town of Wrightwood compliedwith evacuation orders. The fire climbed the flanks of the SanGabriel Mountains, where Wrightwood sits at an elevation around5,900 feet. (Photo: Rick McClure/AP Photo)

Daniel Brown uses a chat app with his mother while surveyingdamage to his home after a fire tore through his neighborhood inLower Lake, Calif., Tuesday, Aug. 16 People forced to flee amassive wildfire in mountains north of San Francisco heaped angerTuesday on a man who authorities believe set the blaze that wipedout several blocks of a small town over the weekend. (Photo: JoshEdelson/AP Photo)

James McCauley weeps as he views the burned out remains ofhis home in Lower Lake, Calif., Monday, Aug. 15. McCauley traverseda creek by boat and foot for a half mile to see the property.(Photo: Josh Edelson/AP Photo)

Summit Inn General Manager Michelle Keeney, left, and ScottKeeney survey the destruction of their burned home in Oak Hills,Calif., on Friday, Aug. 19. The Summit Inn, a popular roadsidediner at the crest of historical Route 66, was gutted by the BlueCut wildfire on Tuesday, in the Cajon Pass which was right nextdoor to their home. (Photo: Christopher Weber/APPhoto)

This photo, provided by California Department of Forestryand Fire Protection, shows smoke billowing from a wildfire nearLake Nacimiento in San Luis Obispo County, Calif., Saturday, Aug.20. (Via AP Photo)

Scorched cars and trailers burned by the Blue Cut fire linea residential street in Phelan, Calif., on Friday, Aug. 19. (Photo:Noah Berger/AP Photo)

An exterior wall stands in front of a residence scorched bya wildfire in Phelan, Calif., Friday, Aug. 19. Thousands ofresidents chased from their mountain and desert homes were slowlybeginning to take stock of their losses as the preliminary damageassessment was released for the blaze that erupted Tuesday indrought-parched canyons 60 miles east of Los Angeles. (Photo: NoahBerger/AP Photo)

Following a wildfire, a melted McDonald's sign standsoutside a restaurant in Cajon Junction, Calif., on Thursday, Aug.18. Scenes of destruction were everywhere Thursday after a hugewildfire sped through mountains and high desert 60 miles east ofLos Angeles so swiftly that it took seasoned firefighters offguard. (Photo: Noah Berger/AP Photo)

Nick Reeder, a firefighter for the California Forestry andFire Protection, and his mother, Jeanine, left, joined otherfirefighters at a rally calling for shorter hours and higher wagesto retain firefighters, at the Capitol, Monday, Aug. 22, inSacramento, Calif. Statistics provided to The Associated Press showvacancy rates exceeding 15 percent in some CaliFire positions.(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo)

Related: 10 most costly wildland fires in theU.S.