Thousands May Return Home as Firefighters Gain Edge in Battle Against Bay Area Blazes

Firefighters continued to make steady progress Thursday in their battle to control the massive and deadly wildfires burning in and around the Bay Area, and were working on plans to allow more evacuated residents to return home.

Cooler weather and higher humidity — thanks to a strong marine layer — as well as an influx of equipment and firefighters, continued to help hard-pressed crews fight dozens of fires. The blazes, now among the largest in state history, were ignited over a week ago by a barrage of lightning strikes.

“We've had a lot of good success,” Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Brunton said early Thursday about efforts to control the CZU August Lighting Complex of fires that have devastated parts of San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties.

Over 15,600 firefighters are currently battling hundreds of fires across California which have already scorched some 1.35 million acres — an area roughly the size of Delaware. More states are also lending resources, with 96 out-of-state fire engines assigned to fires Thursday, Cal Fire said.

The blazes have killed at least seven people, burned about 1,890 homes and other buildings, and forced some 170,000 residents to evacuate.

On Thursday, officials said most residents forced to flee their homes along the southern San Mateo County coast from the CZU fires could return to their homes beginning at noon.

In the heart of wine country, evacuation orders in Napa and Sonoma counties were lifted Wednesday for about 35,000 people who had been ordered to evacuate early last week to escape a massive cluster of rapidly spreading fires, dubbed the LNU Lighting Complex.

Firefighters and utility workers were clearing areas for returning residents after crews working on fire breaks managed to increase containment of the complex to about 33%.

More people could be allowed to return home in the next two days in Sonoma and Solano counties, said Sean Kavanaugh, a Cal Fire incident commander.

Getting people back home is a priority but “we have to (be) very diligent and we have to make sure that the (containment) lines are any good, that we can get people home safely,” he said.

Latest Developments

When separate fires are burning near each other Cal Fire often calls them “complexes.” Three such massive groups of fires are currently burning in and around the Bay Area:

• LNU Lightning Complex: Sonoma, Napa, Solano, Yolo, Lake counties (including the Hennessey, Gamble, Walbridge, Meyers and Green fires)
• SCU Lightning Complex: Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Stanislaus counties (including fires in the Deer, Calaveras and Canyon zones)
• CZU August Lightning Complex: San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties (including the Warnella, Waddell fires)

LNU Lightning Complex

• 24-hour information line: 707-967-4207
• Cal Fire incident information page
• Cal Fire LNU Twitter Feed
• Cal Fire evacuation information

Click on each of the following links to see each county's evacuation updates: Napa County, Solano County, Lake County, Yolo County and Sonoma County.

The LNU complex of fires, ignited by lightning strikes in Napa County on Aug. 17, consists of seven separate blazes burning in five different counties, including Sonoma, Napa, Solano and small sections of Yolo and Lake counties.

As of Thursday morning, the fire complex was 33% contained and had grown to more than 369,935 acres acres, making it the second largest group of wildfires in California history (in close contention with the SCU Complex), Cal Fire said. The group of blazes have so far claimed the lives of at least five people, injured at least four more and destroyed 1,080 homes and other buildings, while continuing to threaten 30,500 other structures.

A major firefighting effort is still being directed at the northern end of the Hennessey Fire — part of the complex — as it approaches Middletown, halfway between Lower Lake and Calistoga in Lake County, Cal Fire officials said, calling Thursday a “critical day."

“It's our top priority,” said Cal Fire Operations Section Chief Chris Waters at a briefing on Wednesday. “All the resources on this fire have started to coalesce in that area so we can start to close this thing off.”

Additional firefighting muscle will come from 250 National Guard service members who arrived in Santa Rosa Wednesday evening.

Firefighters have also made steady progress on the two large blazes in Sonoma County that are also part of the LNU Complex: the Meyers Fire near Jenner, which is 97% contained, and the Walbridge Fire, which is 19% contained. Sonoma County officials on Tuesday lifted evacuation orders for thousands of people, allowing them to return home.

Still, the Walbridge Fire, south of Lake Sonoma, has destroyed scores of homes and other buildings and remains a tough fight, Cal Fire operations section Chief Chris Waters said.

“Heavy fuels, steep and broken terrain, it's very difficult terrain to work in. Also a lot of homes and a lot of structures we have to work around,” Waters said. But, he added, crews “continue to make good progress in tying together vineyards, people's backyards, strategic points.”

Meanwhile, the Hennessey Fire, part of the same complex, jumped a highway Wednesday, threatening homes in neighboring Yolo County near the community of Rumsey and prompting new evacuation orders.

SCU Lightning Complex

• Information lines: 669-247-7431 and 916-618-3195
• Cal Fire incident information page
• Cal Fire SCU Twitter feed
• Evacuation information

The SCU Lightning Complex is approximately 18 separate fires broken into three zones: the Canyon, Calaveras Zone and Deer zones. As of Thursday morning, the fires have collectively burned 369,471 acres — the third largest group of fires in California history — with containment increasing to 35%, Cal Fire said.

The blazes are largely burning in steep, rugged terrain in mostly less populous areas across Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties, and have led to some evacuation orders, mainly near San Jose. The fires have so far caused three first responder injuries, two civilian injuries and destroyed 28 structures, while threatening some 20,065 others.

On Wednesday afternoon, Cal Fire officials reported that the entire east side of the complex had been contained and that crews have also been successful in significantly slowing its southbound spread. However, much of the north and west sides of the vast complex remained largely uncontained, with crews on the ground still actively engaged in firefighting efforts, and bulldozers cutting lines to prevent further expansion.

The number one threat, officials said, continues to be the largely uncontained western flank of the complex because of its proximity to densely populated areas along Highway 101 — including the cities of San Jose and Morgan Hill.

Officials also stressed that the entire fire perimeter — even areas not currently burning — is still closed to public access because of dangerous conditions.

CZU August Lightning Complex

• Cal Fire information line: 831-335-6717
• Cal Fire incident information page
• Cal Fire CZU Twitter feed
• Updated evacuation information

The CZU August Lightning Complex consists of multiple smaller lightning-sparked fires in the Santa Cruz mountains that merged into a massive blaze in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties, ultimately forcing more than 77,000 residents to evacuate, including the entire UC Santa Cruz campus (evacuation orders for the campus have since been lifted).

By Thursday morning, crews had established control lines along the northeast perimeter of the fire and along the coast. Lines in the south are also holding and protecting the community of Santa Cruz and the UC Santa Cruz campus, which has now begun a phased reopening.

Officials also lifted evacuation orders for Scotts Valley in Santa Cruz County on Thursday afternoon, allowing residents there to return to their homes.

Repopulation efforts are also expected to begin over the next 48 hours in the many other communities in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties that were forced to evacuate.

Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Chris Clark said the process will be systematic, and encouraged people to check Cal Fire updates instead of waiting at checkpoints for information.

The fires had burned 81,479 acres and were 24% contained, with one reported civilian fatality. The blazes have destroyed 516 residences and continue to threaten more than 13,000 other homes and buildings, Cal Fire reported.

KQED's Matthew Green contributed to this post, with additional reporting from the Associated Press and Bay City News.