Fire and Lightning August 2020 How the LNU, CZU, SCU complex fires started in the Bay Area.

RARE TROPICAL THUNDERSTORM HITS THE BAY AREA

THOUSANDS OF LIGHTNING STRIKES

SPARK DEADLY FIRES ACROSS THE REGION

AUG. 16, 2020

AUG. 17, 2020

CONTINUE

By the time the storm had passed, lightning strikes had started 11 separate fires in Napa and Sonoma counties. Fires that started in Napa spread to Solano, Yolo and Lake counties. The fires quickly began to ravage areas around Lake Berryessa and the Russian River.

LNU LIGHTNING COMPLEX

AUG. 17, 2020

Fanned by high winds and amid dry conditions, many of the smaller fires merged and spread to more populated areas. Residents of Vacaville and Fairfield were forced to flee flames that jumped I-80 and headed toward town.

At the same time, fires were burning to the south. Lightning also struck San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties, starting several fires Sunday that blew out of control Tuesday.

CZU LIGHTNING COMPLEX

The wilderness is home to a number of small towns. CAL FIRE ordered the evacuation of more than 60,000 people in Santa Cruz County. The area is also home to an iconic grove of ancient redwoods in Big Basin State Park.

Low humidity and high winds fanned the flames of many of these smaller fires, merging them together into larger wildfire complexes. Yet another round of lightning sparked even more fires in the Bay Area, this time in the South and East Bay. Twenty fires started across five counties: Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Clara, Stanislaus and San Joaquin.

SCU LIGHTNING COMPLEX

AUG. 18, 2020

ABC7 News is committed to keeping you updated during fire season. See the latest information on all the large fires burning in California using our interactive map, updated with data from CAL FIRE and the National Interagency Fire Center as it becomes available.

CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR INTERACTIVE WILDFIRE MAP