Wildfires continued to rage across California on Thursday fueled by dry heat and extreme temperatures, threatening thousands of homes and forcing evacuations. California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday said that California had been hit by 10,849 lightning strikes over the past 72 hours which has helped ignite a good portion of the 367 known fires across the state.
The fires in Northern California have spread from Santa Cruz County to wine country, filling the skies above the San Francisco Bay Area with smoke. Fires are also burning in the Sierra Nevada mountain range and parts of Southern California.
“Fires are making runs in multiple directions and impacting multiple communities. A critically dry air mass is moving over the area bringing strong winds,” a statement from Cal Fire said.
As of Thursday morning,the LNU Lightning Complex Fire a group of fires that have affected Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Yolo and Solano counties, had burned more than 124,000 acres and was 0% contained.
Flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires burn in unincorporated Napa County, Calif., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020. The blaze went on to destroy multiple homes near Lake Berryessa. Fire crews across the region scrambled to contain dozens of wildfires sparked by lightning strikes as a statewide heat wave continues. An airplane makes a retardant drop over homes in the Spanish Flat area of Napa, California during the Hennessey fire on August 18, 2020.Flames surround Lake Berryessa during the LNU Lightning Complex fire in Napa, California on August 19, 2020.Peter Koleckar walks around a burned down home in his neighborhood after the CZU August Lightning Complex Fire passed through on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2020, in Bonny Doon, Calif. The fire spared Koleckar’s home.Dead cows lay in a field after being burned by the LNU Lightning Complex fire on August 19, 2020 in Fairfield, California.Vehicles catch fire in front of a burning home along Peaceful Glen Road during the Hennessy fire in Solano County, California, on Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020.A firefighter tries to put out the wildfire on August 19, 2020 in San Mateo, California.A convoy of emergency vehicles drives along an emptied Interstate 80 during the LNU Lighting Complex Fire on the outskirts of Vacaville, California, U.S., August 19, 2020.A resident runs into a home to save a dog while flames are getting close as the Hennessey fire continues to rage out of control near Lake Berryessa in Napa, California on August 18, 2020.
