Hundreds of thousands of acres were shocked. Tens of thousands forced to flee. Hundreds of structures left in ashes. And on Thursday, the first victims of the lightning sparked wild fire through the bay area.
The three fire complexes around the region have combined to burn more than 400,000 acres and were still barely contained because darkness fell Thursday night. That same day, firefighters announced the first three civilian casualties discovered in the pun left in Napa County; an emergency worker in Solano County and a helicopter pilot at Fresno also died in the infernos fight.
The fires were caused by some 11,000 lightning strikes around the state since Sunday, igniting at least 360 fire extinguishers statewide. These had grown into 23 separate fire complexes, the largest of which were the LNU, SCU and CZU fires in the Bay Area.
- De LNU complex, in the North Bay, was the deadliest and most destructive of all extinguishers. It had burned 219,067 acres in Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Lake and Yolo counties and was responsible for the three civilian casualties, as well as destroying at least 480 structures.
- De SCU complex, in the South Bay and further east, forced evacuations to the edge of San Jose Thursday night. It had burned 229,968 acres on Friday, Friday, threatening 20,000 structures.
- De CZU complex, in the Santa Cruz Mountains, had burned 50,000 acres and was still containing 0% Friday morning. Evacuations were ordered for more than 60,000 residents, including the UC Santa Cruz campus. So far, 50 structures have been destroyed and another 20,000 were threatened.
Follow below for the latest updates, and explore the map to see where fires are burning.
UPDATE 7:20 p.m. | SCU Complex expands tonight with 70,000 acres
The first structural damage from SCU Complex fires burning in Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties were reported Friday morning.
The flames swept through their land overnight with more than 70,000 acres, leaving five buildings in the ashes, growing to 229,968 acres in total size. Most of the flames burned in rural San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties, but fires from the Calaveras zone, just across the San Jose Hill, forced evacuations Thursday night on the eastern outskirts of city limits.
Fire crews expect northwest winds to affect the flames in the Calaveras Zone and the Deer Zone, which burned about 3,000 acres near Brentwood. If “fuels, wind and topography are in agreement,” fire officials wrote in an update Friday morning, “expect critical rates of spread … and an increase in fire activity.”
UPDATE 7:10 p.m. | LNU complex spreads overnight modestly
Firefighters increased their coverage of the LNU complex’s fires to 7%, while the flames grew by about 4,000 acres to a total of 219,067 between Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Lake and Yolo counties.
The ‘extreme behavior’ of the fire had flames moving in all directions and threatening multiple communities. CalFire officials said they “expect significant fire growth.”
The Walbridge Fire was among the highest priorities of fire crews. It had already consumed 21,125 acres and was up 0% on Friday morning on its way to Healdsburg.
North of Lake Berryessa, seven fires were fused to form the Hennessey Fire, which burned the majority of the land in the LNU complex about 194,942 acres.
UPDATE 6:30 p.m. | Good conditions include spread of CZU fires at night
Despite a warning Thursday night that the CZU complex could start burning between 700 and 1,000 acres every hour, it grew by just 2,000 acres by Friday morning, thanks to a marine layer, according to CalFire officials.
But once it was wasted, the fire became as brutal as ever before, reaching by 6 o’clock Friday 50,000 acres in size still containing zero. It burned most intensely on the eastern edge of the flames, near Boulder Creek, Ben Lomond and further south, firefighters said.
At least 50 structures were confirmed to have been destroyed, but CalFire deputy chief Jonathan Cox said crews “expect that to go into the triple digits” once they can get a full picture of the destruction.
Recently, firefighters had to deploy personnel to make three rescues of people who did not meet mandatory evacuation concerns, which expanded to include more than 60,000 residents in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties.
“I know they’re trying to do the right thing for their property and their neighbors, but in the long run it’s made it a bigger problem for the first responders,” said Chief Mark Brunton. “For that reason, it took our firefighters away from the fire department to save them and put first responders and firefighters as lawmakers brothers and sisters in danger to save them from that situation.”
Officials warned residents it could be “weeks” before they are able to return to their homes.
Half Moon Bay High School, which was set up as an evacuation center on Wednesday, was already full. A new evacuation center was established at the San Mateo County Events Center.
Santa Cruz County on Thursday asked all overnight visitors to leave their hotel rooms to free up space for new evacuees and for all potential tourists to avoid the area.
Receive all updates from Thursday here.
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