últimas notícias

After avoiding a repeat lightning storm, fire crews received more fortuitous weather conditions Monday night into Tuesday morning as they began to get a handle on the trio of historic blazes burning around the Bay Area.

Since they broke out a week ago, the three fires have combined to burn nearly 800,000 acres — an area more than twice the size of Los Angeles, or more than 25 San Franciscos — destroy more than 1,000 structures and force tens of thousands to flee. Fire crews have recovered six bodies, with more people reported missing. Two of the blazes already rank as the second- and third-largest in state history.

The CZU Lightning Complex is the smallest of the three fires but had also been the least contained. It had burned 78,869 acres and was 17% contained Tuesday morning, up from 13% Monday night. One Santa Cruz County man was dead and seven others were reported missing, and 330 structures were destroyed.

The LNU Lightning Complex has been the deadliest and most destructive of all the fires. It had burned 352,913 acres and was 27% contained Tuesday morning. Five people have died in Napa and Sonoma counties, and 1,188 structures have been damaged or destroyed.

The SCU Lightning Complex has burned the most acres, but the majority have been in rural Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties. It had burned 360,055 acres with 15% containment late Monday night. It had destroyed about two dozen structures and injured three first responders and two civilians but has not resulted in any fatalities. The fire has surpassed LNU as the second-largest fire in history — just 90,000 acres smaller than the largest 450,000-acre Mendocino Complex fires in 2018.

Follow below for the latest updates, and explore the map to see where fires are burning.

San Jose fire chief ‘confident’ in city’s safety | Update 1:30 p.m.

San Jose Fire Chief Robert Sapien Jr. does not expect the mandatory evacuation or warning zones for the SCU Complex Fire to expand, he said Tuesday. The zones encompass parts of unincorporated Santa Clara County in the east foothills but stop short of San Jose proper.

“Right now I feel very confident in the western front that was the greatest threat to San Jose,” Sapien said.

Although crews continue to make progress on containing the blaze and creating more stable buffers between the flames and populated areas, Sapien said it will “potentially take weeks — if not months — of overhaul to make sure the fire is completely out.”

No immediate plans to repopulate San Lorenzo Valley towns | Update 12:45 p.m.

Fire still threatens Scotts Valley and the towns along the San Lorenzo Valley, and evacuated residents won’t be let back into their homes until the danger is gone, damaged essential infrastructure is restored and perils such as leaning, fire-wracked trees and power poles are removed, officials said Tuesday morning.

“The fire right now, it’s still actively burning,” said Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Potter, looking out from Scotts Valley to where the mountainsides above Felton and Ben Lomond were on fire just three miles away, dry forest between the flames.

Discussions surrounding repopulation are in the early stages, sheriff’s spokesperson Ashley Keehn said Tuesday. Typically, least-damaged areas will be reopened first, which would put Scotts Valley and Felton ahead of harder-hit communities like Bonny Doon, upper Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek — but that could change depending on what happens with the fire, she added.

Some residents have been trying to get back into evacuation zones, police said; 15 people have been charged for allegedly breaking evacuation orders, although some were picked up on outstanding warrants or on suspicion of looting.

“We understand and sympathize with people wanting to go back and check on their properties,” Keehn said. “They’re desperate to see if their house is still standing.”

— Ethan Baron

Vacaville, Atlas Peak areas to be repopulated in a matter of days | Update 11:30 a.m.

Residents across parts of Solano and Napa counties forced to flee from the LNU Complex could start heading home in a matter of days, Cal Fire officials said Tuesday morning.

With mop-up and damage assessment efforts underway from Winters going south to Vacaville and west to Atlas Peak over the next 48 hours, a “repopulation plan and reentry plan is in the works,” Solano County Sheriff Mark Essick said. But officials stopped short of providing an exact timeline, saying it depends on the level of power and infrastructure damage across different communities.

“We don’t want to get hopes up and make promises we can’t keep … that would be detrimental to the entire process,” Essick said.

Elsewhere within the LNU Complex, the 54,000-acre Walbridge fire west of Healdsburg is 17% contained but remains difficult to tackle because of steep terrain, according to Cal Fire Chief Chris Waters. Firefighters northwest of Lake Berryessa — including crews in the Middletown and Swartz Creek areas — are focused on controlling the “last, most difficult” branch of the complex.

“We’re hoping that today, with the break in the weather the last two days, that we get that opportunity,” Waters said.

Evacuees stuck in limbo, waiting to go home | Update 10:30 a.m.

Brandon Camber, who lives with his wife and three kids in the English Hills neighborhood of Vacaville, is trying to resume normal life from a Folsom hotel room just days after fleeing in the middle of the night from the fire that rushed into the rural area last Tuesday.

Camber’s mostly worried about his house that is sitting vulnerable — already victim to some looting that’s been happening since the area was evacuated. Camber’s tools, a generator and a computer were among the most expensive things stolen. He’s anxious to get back to his house, but hasn’t been told by county officials when that might be.

His 13-year-old daughter resumed her virtual classes Tuesday from the hotel room. And Camber is already back to work on the Travis Air Force base where he is a technical sergeant.

“It keeps your mind busy,” he said of trying to resume normal life even while evacuated. “You’d go crazy sitting inside the hotel room all day.”

— Annie Sciacca

Infrastructure inspection begins in San Mateo, Santa Cruz counties | Update 9:10 a.m.

While many of the flames from the CZU Lightning Complex in the Santa Cruz Mountains have been doused, the damage was only beginning to be assessed Tuesday morning.

Already, 330 structures had been destroyed between San Mateo (11) and Santa Cruz (319) counties, “and that number is going to increase,” said incident commander Billy See.

But officials were also concerned about a number of “impassable” roads and bridges. Fallen trees were blocking roads northwest of Boulder Creek and Bonny Doon, officials said, while all of the historic, wooden bridges in the area would have to be inspected before being cleared to reopen again.

Fire crews on Tuesday were launching a “road group” to “systematically start opening roadways up carrying debris and gaining access to increase the ability for damage inspection,” See said.

He noted Felton Empire, Bonny Doon, Empire Grade and Jamison Creek roads, and the surrounding areas, in particular.

“It’s just dangerous,” See said. “This is gonna be a long, tedious process. The majority of this fire encompasses large, old-growth timber. Those trees are coming down across the roads. A lot of the wooden bridges that are in the area are either damaged or burned. They’re impassible.”

Return to ‘seasonable’ weather should help SCU Complex | Update 7:35 a.m.

The SCU Complex grew by about 3,700 acres overnight, but a return to “seasonable” weather this week had CalFire officials optimistic about the firefight.

The entire complex, made up of the Canyon, Calaveras and Deer zones, had burned 363,772 acres and remained 15% contained Tuesday morning. It was most active in the hills above 1,000 feet elevation.

The Deer Zone fires, in Contra Costa County, were mostly contained. The Canyon Zone, mostly in remote Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties, had burned the most acreage with the least containment. The Calaveras Zone was burning in southeastern Santa Clara County.

Little spread in LNU Complex overnight | Update 7:15 a.m.

The fires that make up the LNU Lightning Complex “continue to make runs in several direction,” CalFire officials wrote in an update Tuesday morning, but crews increased their containment of the 353,000-acre blaze to 27% overnight and limited its spread to another 1,096 acres.

The Hennessey Fire, burning in Napa and Lake counties, had grown to 296,050 acres with 29% containment. In Sonoma County, the Walbridge Fire had burned 54,503 acres west of Healdsburg and was 17% contained.

Fire officials optimistic following a night of cooperative weather | Update 6:45 a.m.

The CZU Complex grew by fewer than 200 acres overnight and fire crews increased their containment of the blaze to 17%, CalFire officials said during a 6 a.m. briefing.

By Tuesday morning, firefighters had established strong lines in front of most communities in the area. The entire north edge of the fire, which was threatening Santa Clara County, was creeping toward control lines and “looking really good,” chief Mark Brunton said.

“Although people may see some flames or some fire or see smoke, just know that is part of our overall strategy and it poses no threat,” Brunton said. “If we had a bunch of resources, we’d have that surrounded and we’d be able to extinguish better, but this actually is part of our alternative strategy.”

To the south, there was “no threat at this time” posed to the city of Santa Cruz or the UC Santa Cruz campus, Brunton said.

Firefighters were able to take advantage of the absence of northerly winds, which had been fueling the spread of the fire toward San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. With the marine layer helping to clear the smoke, crews were also able to utilize more air support.

“You have many tools that we have available to us,” said incident commander Billy See. “The ground troops, the aircraft — all that combined is is a force multiplier, and with that force multiplier we’ve had a lot of success.”

The major firefight was ongoing near Ben Lomond and heading south into Henry Cowell State Park.  The rugged terrain and plentiful fuel for the fire were presenting firefighters their toughest challenges.

So far, 330 structures had been destroyed, but fire officials expected that number to increase. Santa Cruz County has sustained the majority of the damage, with 319 of those scorched buildings there and 11 in San Mateo County.

Catch up on all the updates from Monday here.