Dry lightning is expected to belt Northern California again early next week and will likely spark new wildfires even as firefighters battle several clusters of destructive and deadly blazes that are among the biggest recorded in state history.
National Weather Service officials issued a high fire danger alert from 11 a.m. Sunday through 11 a.m. Tuesday, warning that erratic, gusty winds of up to 65 mph could accompany the thunderstorms.
The fires have killed four people, displaced thousands — possibly for weeks rather than days — destroyed hundreds of homes and torched redwood forests.
The LNU Complex, a lightning-sparked cluster of fires in the North Bay that started Monday, incinerated 302,000 acres by Friday, making it the second largest fire in state history, while the SCU Complex, which began with lightning strikes Tuesday in the East Bay, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties, grew to 275,000 acres, the fourth largest in state history. A third cluster of fires, the CZU Complex, began with lightning strikes in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties on Monday, and had burned 57,000 acres by Friday.
“We are not naive by any stretch how deadly this moment is,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom at a Thursday press conference in Sonoma County. “We simply haven’t seen anything like this in many, many years.”
Resources are worn thin and fire officials are making strategic choices of where to send ground crews, engines and air support. As firefighters gain control of blazes in Southern California, additional resources will be pushed north, Newsom said, which is now the focus of state efforts.
In addition, resources started trickling in from 10 states, Newsom said, with 12,000 firefighters on the lines fighting 560 actives blazes, including two dozen major wildfires. He also requested assistance from Canada and Australia.
The fires burning across California have scorched just over 1,200 square miles so far, state officials said. They were sparked by a barrage of nearly 12,000 lightning strikes, most of which hit last weekend.
Officials reported the first civilian deaths Thursday night.
Three people died Tuesday as flames from the LNU Complex burned through parts of Napa County. The bodies were found the next day in the charred ruins of a house on the 6900 block of Highway 128, an area that had been ordered evacuated, said Henry Wofford, spokesman for the Napa County Sheriff-Coroner’s Office.
The home was in a sparsely-populated area of the foothills around Lake Berryessa. By Friday, the hills had been turned into a smoldering ghost town, with scorched black earth and tree trunks for miles.
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All the homes in the neighborhood were destroyed.
Another person died in Vacaville, an adult male, who is believed to have succumbed to the fire in his home on Pleasants Valley Road, said Sgt. Cully Pratt, spokesman for the Solano County Sheriff’s Office.
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Evacuations continued across the Bay Area on Friday.
Despite state preparation earlier in the year to boost firefighting capability, the sheer number and size of the LNU and SCU complexes is historic, Newsom said. He has requested a federal major disaster declaration, to provide resources and flexibility during the crisis.
“We have more people, but it’s not enough,” Newsom said. “We have more air support, but it’s still not enough.”
Containment has been difficult, but progress was being made Friday: The SCU complex was 10% contained, the LNU was 15% contained and the CZU was 2% contained.
The CZU was bearing down menacingly Friday on the already evacuated UC Santa Cruz campus.
Law enforcement and fire officials evacuated 64,600 Santa Cruz and San Mateo residents. It could be weeks before they can return to their homes due to the unpredictable nature of the blazes, officials said.
Residents across the wildfire landscape were urged again and again to heed evacuation orders, but many refused to do so.
About 4 miles from where three people died in Napa County, Gayle and John Newman, retirees, sat in lawn chairs on their Monticello Road driveway in the evening as a gas generator chugged loudly nearby. They’ve hunkered down, without power, since Tuesday, refusing to evacuate.
The couple evacuated during the Tubbs Fire in 2017, and they said they won’t repeat the experience of waiting for days to know if their home burned.
“At least if we’re here, we know exactly what’s going on,” said John Newman, 68. “Family is worried, but it’s a little different if you’re here firsthand.”
Fire officials have repeatedly warned people to leave or risk death.
In Guerneville, an eerie orange glow and smoke obscured the sky as the Walbridge Fire, part of the LNU, threatened to overtake the town. But, many residents ignored the evacuation orders.
Sean Doolan was out walking with his partner and young daughter near the fire station. He said he has lived in the area for more than three years with his family and two dogs and had heeded evacuations in the past but said he did not feel the fire warranted leaving this time.
“We have a radio, a generator and three months of food,” he said.
At the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, dozens of evacuees remained huddled at a Red Cross shelter Friday. Outside, the smoke-filled skies felt like déjà vu for Mark Struthers, 47, who lost his Santa Rosa home in the 2017 Tubbs Fire.
He’s been homeless for the past three years, and had been camping along the river in Guerneville before he was evacuated Tuesday. This time, he said, the fires helped him find shelter.
“In a weird way, this is kind of a blessing for me,” Struthers said. “It feels nice to be here and have a safe, secure place.”
Chronicle staff writers Mallory Moench , Alexei Koseff, Lauren Hernández and Anna Kramer contributed to this report.
Dominic Fracassa, Dustin Gardiner, Chase DiFeliciantonio and Jill Tucker are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email dfracassa@sfchronicle.com, chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com alexei.dustin.gardiner@sfchronicle.com jtucker@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @dominicfracassa @akoseff @dustingardiner @jilltucker @@chasedifelice
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Historic Northern California fires straining resources as Newsom calls for help - San Francisco Chronicle
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