Northern California wildfires: Firefighters report some successes, brace for new lightning strikes

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Firefighters battling three major Northern California complex blazes braced for additional challenges Sunday as a new weather system threatened dry lightning and possible wildfire starts.

More than 752,000 acres had burned, nearly 1,000 structures had been destroyed and three civilians in Napa County and one in Solano County had lost their lives as of Sunday morning in the fires.

“Despite the increase of resources, we are definitely far from getting these fires handled,” Cal Fire unit chief Shana Jones said in a late-morning briefing about the LNU Complex fires in Napa, Sonoma, Yolo, Lake and Stanislaus counties: “We are not out of the woods by far.”

In Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties, officials reported that they have had success battling the CZU Lightning complex fires over the previous 24 hours but were concerned about the weather turning.

As of 6 a.m. Sunday, the fire had scorched 71,000 acres and was 8% contained, with more than 24,000 structures threatened and 129 structures destroyed, Cal Fire officials said. It was unclear how many of those structures were residential homes and commercial structures.

Officials also reported that 1,349 personnel, including some from out of state, were fighting the CZU fires.

A break in the weather Saturday allowed firefighters to accomplish some of their strategic goals, officials said.

A fire commander’s vehicle in the evacuated zone was broken into while the commander was directing personnel, officials said. The unidentified thief or thieves stole personal belongings, including his wallet, and drained his bank account. officials said.

“That’s the extent that these people have gone,” Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Brunton said.

Elsewhere, the larger SCU Lightning Complex, with fires in Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin counties, continued to expand, reaching some 340,000 acres, with 10 percent containment as of 7 a.m.

Cal Fire officials issued an immediate evacuation order at 3 a.m. Sunday in Alameda County south of Welch Creek Road to the fire perimeter and the Alameda/Santa Clara County line east of Calaveras Road at Welch Creek Road to the fire perimeter.

In the north zone of the CZU Lightning complex, the clearer air Saturday allowed firefighters to use six water-dropping helicopters to shower the area throughout the day, slowing the movement of the fire and allowing crews to move in to establish lines, officials said.

Beaches in Half Moon Bay are closed, officials added.

In the southern zone, firefighters improved their secondary line above UC Santa Cruz and mitigated the spread south toward Santa Cruz and Capitola.

In the Boulder Creek area, officials said they were able to keep the fire well above that community but smoke conditions remained heavy. Some progress was made, officials said, but not as much as they would like.

In the Ben Lomond area, officials said the fire has progressed no farther than the top quarter of Alba Road.

“That’s where we had a significant amount of resources throughout yesterday and into last night protecting the community of Ben Lomond,” Brunton said.

For the first time, the portion of the fire that has ravaged neighborhoods in upper Boulder Creek reached Highway 9 south of the town.

“This is as far south as it’s come,” said San Diego-area fire department Captain Brian Salameh, leading a Cal Fire strike team. He pointed across the two-lane highway and said, “We don’t want it to go over there. The highway is kind of like our containment line. Once it gets over there you have the same thing you have over here, houses, big trees. It becomes that much harder to contain.”

The fire’s progress southward along the San Lorenzo Valley from Boulder Creek brings it closer to Ben Lomond, and Felton beyond it. Scotts Valley lies east of Highway 9, separated by thick, dry forest full of scattered homes.

Fire reached late Sunday morning to within less than 300 yards from downtown Boulder Creek and Highway 9, which runs through the town. A home up Hazel Avenue was incinerated, but firefighters were able to save the two neighboring houses.

Progress has been slow in the Bonny Doon area, where the fire has been widespread, officials said. But there were no reports of structural damage overnight, which firefighters viewed as a win given the heavy damage in that community throughout the week.

Officials urged people to stay away from the evacuated zones.

Saturday night was fairly quiet in Sonoma County, and firefighters succeeded in keeping the Walbridge Fire from making any significant new pushes toward the towns of Healdsburg or Guerneville, Cal Fire officials reported Sunday during their early-morning briefing on the LNU Lightning Complex fires.

The same was true of the Hennessy Fire in Lake County.

“They were definitely able to make some progress,” Cal Fire spokesperson Jeff Chumbley said.

The LNU complex, with fires in Napa, Sonoma, Yolo, Lake and Stanislaus counties, was reported to be at 17 percent containment Sunday morning, with more than 340,000 acres consumed.

Sunday evening could prove to be a key time. Cal Fire officials warned crews to be alert for every firefighter’s worst nightmare — more dry lightning strikes — especially after 6 p.m.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen. Will there be other starts, and what does that mean?” Chumbley said. “It’s definitely a concern.”

New fires would spread already short-handed crews even thinner. Firefighters coming back to the Calistoga basecamp to rest might be immediately pulled back to a fire, Chumbley said.

The forecast also predicts drier weather Sunday than in the past few days, Cal Fire officials warned firefighters. And Sunday evening is expected to see erratic wind gusts — which could spur dangerous, sudden changes in fire direction.

“We’ll see what happens,” Chumbley said. “Tonight will be very interesting.”

After a week on the fire lines, firefighters are tired. Robert Johnson, battalion chief for the Sonoma County Fire District, said his team has been working two and three-day shifts, catching brief naps sitting in the front seats of their fire engines and trucks.

“It’s been long and it’s been a grind,” he said Saturday evening, while monitoring the Walbridge Fire from Chemise Road in Healdsburg. He’s been on the fire since Monday.

But that’s the job, Johnson said.

“When you’re on the line and there’s nobody to relieve you and there’s still structures threatened, you can’t really leave,” he said.

Cal Fire Chief Chris Waters said he is encouraged by the progress of the Meyers Fire north of Jenner in Sonoma County, nothing that evacuees could be allowed to return home and Highway 1 could be reopened within the next 24 to 48 hours.

But he added that the Walbridge Fire remained a top priority because of the challenges it presents — steep river-canyon terrains, redwood fuels and few places to operate effectively.

In the east zone of the LNU complex, the area above Calistoga has received a significant amount of resources to keep the blaze from advancing any farther toward Highway 29, Waters said.

Staff writer Ethan Baron contributed to this report. Check back for updates.