LNU wildfire updates: ‘Weather is not in our favor’ as Cal Fire fights ‘extreme’ behavior
Although the LNU Lightning Complex wildfires still rage in the North Bay, more evacuees are being sent home, as firefighters prepare for more spread from the massive blaze.
On Saturday morning, Cal Fire’s Lake-Napa Unit said that residents of unincorporated communities in Fairfield and most in Suisun could go back to their homes. Evacuation orders for some areas of Allendale and English Hills east of the fires were also lifted, though Lyon Road in Suisun remains under orders. On Friday, Vacaville residents were cleared to re-enter the city.
Despite the lifting of some evacuations, many more are still in place in Napa, Sonoma and Lake counties and the LNU Lightning Complex, a series of wildfires that were sparked by thunderstorms on Monday, has grown to a historic size. On Friday, as the complex surpassed 300,000 acres, it became the second-largest wildfire in California history. The first, July 2018’s Mendocino Complex Fire, was 459,123 acres wide.
As of 6 p.m. Saturday, Cal Fire announced evacuation warnings for two areas in Lake County. All Yolo County evacuation orders were lifted.
Since Monday, the Lightning Complex has grown to 314,207 acres and has destroyed 560 structures, including homes, and has killed five people — three people in Napa County and one man in Solano County, along with a PG&E employee who died while responding to the fire in Vacaville.
Firefighters are still bracing for what could be a devastating weekend battling the fire complex, as flames head toward areas with large quantities of fuel.
“Significant fire growth is expected throughout the rest of the operational period. Extreme fire behavior with short and long range spotting are continuing to challenge firefighting efforts,” Cal Fire LNU officials wrote in a Saturday update. “Fires continue to make runs in multiple directions and impacting multiple communities..”
The number of personnel assigned to the LNU complex more than doubled from 580 to over 1,400 Friday and nearly 200 fire engines were on the scene, fire officials said.
“I’m happy to see the jumps that we’ve had today,” said Sean Kavanaugh, Cal Fire incident commander.
That could help crews make further progress against the sprawling fire, which was just 15% contained.
“I feel like we’re up on our feet, standing straight and actually moving a little bit forward,” Kavanaugh said Friday night.
More thunderstorms could hamper fire fight
In a Saturday morning briefing, Cal Fire officials with the Sonoma-Lake-Napa unit said that the weather forecast for the next few days could put an end to the progress made in battling the Complex.
Cal Fire unit chief Shana Jones said that although resources have been pouring in from other states and across California to help fight the fires, “we are not out of the woods.”
“Upcoming predicted weather is not in our favor,” she said.
The National Weather Service warned that another round of thunderstorms could possibly be active in much of Northern California, including the fire zone, starting Sunday and lasting through Tuesday. Just like the thunderstorms that started the blazes, these storms are expected to bring little to no rainfall, meaning a heightened chance of fire starts without any relief.
“We’re not sure what it’s going to look like,” Kavanaugh said. “If we do get another lightning push through the area, we’re going to have fires that are going to start.”
Kavanaugh said that, given the highly unpredictable nature of the upcoming weather event, residents in fire-prone rural areas need to be prepared for possible evacuations.
“This is going to be a long haul,” he said.
Shortly after the news conference, the National Weather Service’s Bay Area office issued a red flag warning for the entire San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Coast south through Monterey County lasting from early Sunday morning to Monday evening. The red flag warning, which means a high risk of fires in the area, cited erratic winds caused by thunderstorms.
Focus shifts to Sonoma County
Overnight, the Walbridge Fire just west of Healdsburg, grew to 50,000 acres, nearly doubling in size for a second time in 24 hours. The fire and its merged cousin, the Stewarts Fire, are threatening homes in the Forestville and Rio Lido areas northwest of Santa Rosa.
Old growth redwoods in the Armstrong Woods State Natural Reserve appear to have been spared, Scott Ross, a Cal Fire spokesman, told the Press Democrat.
“That’s amazing news,” Ross said. “There’s a lot of old growth (redwoods), so I’m glad to hear that.”
The fire had hit the upper part of the reserve on Friday.
The Hennessy Fire, now mostly contained to burning in Napa County, is still the largest in the complex. It had charred 261,793 acres and was 15% contained as of Saturday morning. It grew from 256,102 acres as of Friday night.
The Meyers fire north of Jenner on the Sonoma Coast had scorched 2,345 acres and was still burning unchecked by Saturday morning. That blaze decreased in size in from 3,000 acres due to better mapping, Cal Fire said.
Widespread evacuation orders and advisories remain in effect for rural areas of Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties as more than 30,000 homes remain threatened. More evacuations were ordered in Sonoma County on Saturday, including areas near Dry Creek and the Russian River. Cal Fire officials cited an “immediate threat to life” in their orders. Other evacuations in Napa County along Highway 121 were lifted.
On Saturday, Cal Fire operation section chief Chris Waters said that the Meyers Fire, one of the smaller fires comprising the Lightning Complex, was nearing containment. He estimated that it would be fully contained in two days at most.
The Walbridge Fire, meanwhile, was firefighters’ top priority. The “unique” fire is surrounded by timber and is burning on rugged, steep terrain, posing difficulties for firefighters attempting to reign in the blaze, Waters said.
Trump declares fire disaster
California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently said that the state was receiving support from the federal government amid the wildfire crisis, despite President Donald Trump’s frequent and vocal criticisms of Newsom.
The Trump administration, however, seemed to make good on Newsom’s word by declaring a disaster in the state of California, freeing up funding for victims of the lightning-sparked wildfires that have cropped up since Aug. 14.
Grants will soon become available for evacuees and those whose homes have been destroyed in order to secure temporary housing or pay for home repairs.
This story was originally published August 22, 2020 at 10:12 AM with the headline "LNU wildfire updates: ‘Weather is not in our favor’ as Cal Fire fights ‘extreme’ behavior."
