A massive wildfire in Northern California has grown to become the second-largest in state history, as it and hundreds of other blasts have now burned nearly one million acres.
The LNU Lightning Complex Fire that burns across five counties – Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Yolo and Stanislaus – has spread to more than 314,000 acres, officials said Saturday. It was 15 percent contained.
“This entire LNU complex is now the second largest wildlife fire in state history,” said Sean Kavanaugh, commander of incidents with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The largest wildfire was the Mendocino Complex which burned more than 459,000 acres in 2018.
The LNU Complex blow, named for Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit, destroyed 560 structures and damaged 125 more.
Many of the fires that broke out in the state were triggered by a large number of lightning strikes because California is in the grip of a heat wave.
“In 1987, there were around 11,000 lightning fires throughout the year,” Caly spokesman Jeremy Rahn said at the news conference Saturday. “At present it is more than 12,000.”
More than 100 of the lightning strikes occurred Friday.
The National Weather Service on Saturday issued a fire warning for areas from northern Monterey Bay to the Point Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco. Enlightenment could affect these communities from Sunday to Monday, the NWS said in a warning.
“Lightning is likely to attract new fires across the region, including remote areas,” it said.
The state now has more than 585 wildfires, which have burned nearly a million acres, Rahn said.
On Friday, Cal Fire Assistant Deputy Director Daniel Berlant said the fires had consumed more than 771,000 acres, which he said “about the size of the state of Rhode Island.”
More than 13,700 firefighters are fighting nearly two dozen large fires as complexes.
The National Guard was activated and will provide support for helicopters and a dozen crews of 20 people, Rahn said.
The LNU Lightning Complex Fire claimed the lives of at least four people, including three in Napa County who were found in a residence on Wednesday and recovered Thursday. The fourth death was in Solano County, according to Cal Fire.
In addition, a Pacific Gas & Utility worker died while clearing infrastructure around a fire complex to make it safe for first responders, Cal Fire said in a statement Thursday. Cal Fire spokeswoman Heather Williams said Friday it would be up to local authorities to link the deaths to the LNU fire.
Another person, a helicopter pilot, died after crashing Wednesday morning while carrying water droplets, officials said. That death was linked to the Hills Fire in Fresno County.
Officials said Saturday the 63,000-acre CZU Lightning Complex Fire, named for Cal Fire’s Santa Cruz Unit, earlier this week caused extensive damage to California’s oldest state park, Big Basin Redwoods State Park.
“The fire damaged the park’s headquarters, historic cores and campgrounds,” California State Parks said in a statement.
It was one of more than two dozen state parks closed as a result of the fires.
More than 115,000 Californians have been evacuated, Cal Fire Incident Commander Nick Truax said at a news conference Friday.
The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s office said Friday that five suspects were arrested on suspicion of looting, grand theft, conspiracy to commit a crime and burglary after they were located in a nearby affected neighborhood.
“These five decided to victimize several of our community members who are already hurting,” the agency said in a statement.
Gavin Newsom of California said at the news conference Friday that the fires “consumed our resources, claimed our staff.” He said the state would receive a federal subsidy “to ensure the availability of vital resources” to fight the fires.
The mayor has also applied for 375 fire engines from other states. So far, executives in Arizona, Nevada and Texas have agreed to send crews and support, Newsom said.
