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The two largest fires in the SCU Lightning Complex merged overnight Friday while burning south of Livermore and Pleasanton, and while the growth continues to head away from the Tri-Valley for now, Cal Fire is preparing for potentially dangerous weather across the Bay Area into Tuesday.
The complex, which is a collection of 20 separate vegetation fires caused by lightning strikes last Sunday and Monday, rose to 291,968 acres with 10% containment as of 7 a.m. Saturday.
The vast majority of that acreage consists of the Canyon and Reservoir fires, which had been separate incidents merged by Saturday morning and had extended toward Merced County, according to Cal Fire.
The SCU Lightning Complex includes fires raging in parts of Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and now Merced counties. Thousands of homes are threatened and evacuation orders and warnings are in effect, but most of those are outside of Alameda County.
And weather conditions over the weekend could exacerbate the situation — both for current fires and the threat of new ones.
“The weather forecast for this weekend continues to be warm and dry. Remnants of Hurricane Genevieve will bring thunderstorms as early as Sunday and continue through Tuesday,” said Daniel Berlant, assistant deputy director for Cal Fire.
“A Fire Weather Watch has been issued by the National Weather Service for lightning with very little to no rain,” he added. “The winds will generally be light, however erratic gusty winds of up to 65 mph may occur. This dry lightning will likely hamper efforts to contain the current fires and may spark new fires.”
The National Weather Services has issued a red flag warning for much of the Bay Area from 5 a.m. Sunday to 5 p.m. Tuesday. Cal Fire officials urge residents to prepare for the possibility of evacuation orders or warnings prompted by existing or new vegetation fires amid the dry storms.
Smoke and poor air quality has enveloped the Tri-Valley and most of the Bay Area as a result of the wildfires.
The Reservoir Fire (part of the Calaveras Zone of fires near Calaveras Reservoir) had been burning south and east in rural Alameda, Santa Clara and Stanislaus counties, while the Canyon Fire was raging separately to the east in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties for the past five to six days.
But by Saturday morning, the two fires were deemed to have merged and stood at 285,485 acres with the specific containment level of the fires unclear.
The Deer Zone on the northeastern side of Mount Diablo included fires at just under 3,300 acres and was nearly contained, according to Cal Fire.
The SCU Lightning Complex had caused no fatalities but resulted in injuries of two first-responders and two civilians as of Saturday morning. Five structures had been destroyed, and 20,065 other structures were under threat, according to Cal Fire.
More than 1,100 firefighters have been assigned to the SCU Lightning Complex.
Many evacuation orders and warnings, as well as road closures, remain in effect across the complex area, but the only ones in Alameda County are all of Mines Road south of mile marker 10 to the county line as well as Frank Raines Park and Del Puerto Canyon Road in that area.
There are also fast-moving wildfires raging elsewhere in the Bay Area and Northern California, including Solano, Sonoma, Napa and Santa Cruz counties.
“Last night firefighters aggressively worked to strengthen containment lines. Crews performed firing operations throughout the perimeters to burn away vegetation in an attempt to slow down and stop the spread of the wildfires,” Berlant said of the outlook statewide.
“With so many fires burning at one time, CAL FIRE has continued to request additional support from local fire departments across the State, as well as hundreds of fire engines from other states,” Berlant said.
“The National Guard has been activated and is providing helicopter support and a dozen 20-person crews,” he added. “The federal military is supporting the effort with several C-130 aircraft equipped with modular firefighting systems known as MAFFS that allow them to be large airtankers.”
Statewide, there were nearly 12,000 lightning strikes and more than 585 new wildfires burning nearly one million acres since Aug. 12. Most have been controlled but nearly two-dozen major incidents remain aflame across many jurisdictions, according to Berlant.
“The recent spike in wildfire activity is an important reminder for residents to take steps to prevent sparking a wildfire. Having an evacuation plan, a supply kit, and important paperwork will make it easier when it is time to GO. Remember one less spark, means one less wildfire,” he added.
Local health officials have issued a health alert and residents have been encouraged to remain indoors with doors and windows closed due to the air quality. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District extended its Spare the Air alert through Sunday.
James Michael, so far the blame seems to be on lightning, not lighting.
I haven’t seen the air this bad for this long but somehow I get the feeling that the powers that be are gonna blame PG&E.
can’t blame PG& E on this fire. nice try though.