By AccuWeather staff writer
Published Aug. 21, 2020 1:41 PM
Day by day, the death toll and acreage total climb as fire officials deliver the grim news. A trio of fire complexes have combined to burn nearly a half million acres of California and the complexity of the situation has only been fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of Friday, at least five fatalities have been confirmed due to the devastating LNU Lightning Complex Fire, which has now scorched over 325,000 acres of Northern California land.
Farther south, other lightning complex fires have burned hundreds of thousands of acres while sending nearly hundreds of thousands of residents scrambling, including some initially resistant residents.
"California is battling two of the largest fires in our history and has seen nearly 600 new fires in the last week caused by dry lightning strikes. These are unprecedented times and conditions, but California is strong -- we will get through this,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a press release.
On Saturday evening, President Donald Trump approved of a disaster declaration regarding the fires. Doing so allowed for federal funding to be granted to affected individuals in Lake, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Sonoma, Yolo and Solano counties. Federal aid will also be granted to state, tribal and local recovery efforts.
"In total, these fires have now burned over 771,000 acres," CalFire Assistant Deputy Director Daniel Berlant said in an update on the statewide wildfires on Friday. "Just to put it into perspective, that's roughly the size of the state of Rhode Island."
Thomas Henney, left, and Charles Chavira watch a plume spread over Healdsburg, Calif., as the LNU Lightning Complex fires burn, Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020. Fire crews across the region scrambled to contain dozens of wildfires sparked by lightning strikes. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)
Throughout the state, the majority of the fires were ignited by a “historic lightning siege,” according to Jeremy Rahn, a spokesperson for CalFire.
Friday evening, CalFire tweeted that under the extreme weather conditions, the growth of the SCU Lightning Complex and the LNU Lightning Complex had made California's Top 20 Largest Wildfire List. The SCU Lightning Complex became the state's 7th largest fire in the state's history and the LNU Lighting Complex the 10th as of Friday.
As if the infernos weren’t enough of a problem, firefighting crews are historically undermanned this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lightning fires ravage Northern California
Spanning across five countries and having destroyed or damaged over 1,000 structures as of Saturday evening, the LNU Lightning Complex Fire is expected to continue to continue growing rapidly, according to Cal Fire.
“Significant fire growth is expected throughout the rest of the operational period,” the organization said in its Friday morning update. “Extreme fire behavior with short and longe range spotting are continuing to challenge firefighting efforts.”
During a news conference, Solano County Sheriff Thomas Ferrara said the fire had completely destroyed at least 222 homes, while many others were left severely damaged.
The California wildfires have claimed at least five lives over the past week. Three of the victims were found on Thursday together in a destroyed home by the LNU Lightning Complex fires in Napa Valley while another resident died in Solano County. Another fatality came from a PG&E employee who was found unconscious in his car on Wednesday. A helicopter pilot died from fatal injuries sustained in an accident while fighting the fires on the same day.
Photos from in Solano County capture the widespread devastation and complete ruin left in the wake of deadly wildfires. (AccuWeather/Bill Wadell)
According to the Associated Press, it wasn’t immediately clear whether the Solano and Napa County death toll included the PG&E worker fatality in official tallies.
Monterey Herald reporter Tom Wright reported that seven firefighters have faced injuries, one being a bee sting that caused anaphylactic shock. All injured firefighters have since been treated and released.
A fire burning in Napa County and Lake County, known as the Hennessey Fire, has burned 271,714 acres and is at 17% containment. In Sonoma County, the Walbridge Fire has burned 50,069 acres and the Meyers Fire has burned another 2,345 acres, both of which are at 0% containment.
For many residents, evacuations became dire and immediate due to rapid growth. In Vacaville, AccuWeather National Reporter Bill Waddell spoke with residents of the smoke-choked town.
“It’s awful and you can still see the air quality,” Jennifer Jones-Prothro told Wadell. “So many people are losing their homes. It’s devastating.”
The dreadful air quality was emphasized by satellite images showing the smoke traveling hundreds of miles into the Pacific Ocean and registering at levels recognized as “very unhealthy” and “hazardous” in the central and northern parts of the state.
Smoke from the Californian wildfires drifted over the Pacific Ocean this week and was shown via satellite images. (Satellite image ©2020 Maxar Technologies)
Central and Southern California haven't been left unscathed
The SCU Lightning Complex fires grew larger than their northern counterparts at the start of the weekend. In totality, the blazes have scorched over 339,000 acres across the counties of Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Stanislaus.
Air quality concerns have also been rampant in the southern half of the state.
A structure is damaged by the CZU August Lightning Complex Fire in Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, in Bonny Doon, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
In San Joaquin Valley, an air quality alert was raised by officials. According to ABC30, a reading of particulate matter from the city of Merced showed air quality levels hitting Level 5 on Wednesday, meaning residents should avoid all outdoor activity.
Meanwhile, the CZU Lightning Complex fires have burned over 67,000 acres and destroyed 50 structures while firefighters have gained 5% containment. Burning in Santa Cruz and southern San Mateo County, the fires have forced the evacuation of more than 48,000 people.
Peter Koleckar reacts after seeing multiple home burned in his neighborhood after the CZU August Lightning Complex Fire passed through on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, in Bonny Doon, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
Early Friday morning, firefighting crews had to make frantic rescues of numerous residents in the San Mateo area who refused to evacuate.
“I know they’re trying to do the right thing for their property and their neighbors, but in the long run it’s created a bigger problem for the first responders,” Chief Mark Brunton said, according to The Mercury News. “Because of that, it took our firefighters away from the firefight to rescue them and put first responders and firefighters or law enforcement brothers and sisters into danger to rescue them out of that situation.”
Conditions going forward
“Firefighters are making progress, however it’s the weather conditions that really are not working in our favor,” Berlant stated in the update.
AccuWeather meteorologists aren't forecasting for conditions to grow any more favorably for firefighters in the short-term. In addition to continued heat in the Southwest, the risk of dry thunderstorms sparking new lightning-induced wildfires will be on the increase into early week.
The extreme heat had been a contributing factor to the difficulty in containing the fires over since the past weekend.
"It was those triple digit temperatures that made it so difficult over the weekend in the beginning part of the week to battle these fires," Berlant said. "That combined with the winds and dry conditions.”
Berlant noted, however, that the most concerning factor going forward was the potential for more dry lightning during the beginning of the week, setting fire personnel "on high alert."
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