Sifting through through the remains in Coffey Park

Jason Miller, 45, prepares to plant an American flag on the charred remains of his house as residents of Coffey Park, devastated by the Tubbs fire, return home on Oct. 20.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Oct. 20, 2017 3:04 PM PT

Residents of Coffey Park in Santa Rosa were allowed to return to their neighborhood on Friday. Many homes were reduced to smoldering rubble in the subdivision west of the 101 Freeway. Swaths of suburbia became wasteland, with brick chimneys and denuded trees the only objects left standing.

Residents return to devastated Coffey Park

Rick Serdin, 60, a resident of Coffey Park for more than 30 years, sifts through the charred remains of his home.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

An incinerated ickup truck rests beside a row of charred trees in the Coffey Park neighborhood of Santa Rosa, which was devastated by the Tubbs fire.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Mark McCarty’s boots are caked with ash as he helps a relative sift through the charred remains of a home in Coffey Park.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Mark Sharp sifts through the remains of his Coffey Park home searching for his wife’s wedding band.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Coffey Park resident John Wimmer and his sister-in-law, Laura Babbini, try to retrieve valuables from his burned home.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Coffey Park resident Jason Miller checks for fire damage to his SUV.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Chris Druey, 47, turns over the ashes of his burned home in Coffey Park hoping to recover possessions on Friday.

(Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)