Crews make progress as weather shifts
Monster Bay Area blazes aren’t growing like they were, thanks in part to the weather.
Favorable conditions give firefighters a boost in Northern California blazes that have killed seven.
Favorable weather conditions gave crews on the front lines of the historic firestorm in Northern California a boost Tuesday as officials reported scant overnight growth on two of the largest blazes the state has seen.
The fatalities among the fires stands at seven, including five who perished as a result of the LNU Lightning Complex fire — three in Napa County and two in Solano County — and one in the CZU Lightning Complex fire burning in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties.
A pilot also died in a helicopter crash in Fresno County while on a waterdropping mission for the Hills fire.
Seven additional people have been reported missing in the area of the CZU Lightning Complex, according to Santa Cruz County Sheriff ’s Chief Deputy Chris Clark.
“Those are areas that we want to get to, but due to fire activity and other hazardous conditions that exist out there from falling trees and impassable roads, it makes it tough,” he said during a news briefing Tuesday. “As soon as we can get in there to do further investigation, we will.”
More than 1,400 structures have been destroyed in the firestorm, and “our preliminary assessments indicate that number could rise in total to over 3,000,” said Daniel Berlant, an information officer for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“There is nothing more stressful for evacuees” than not knowing if their home has survived. “We’re trying to provide that information as quickly as possible,” he said in a video briefing Tuesday.
Although not as large as some of the other blazes burning in the northern part of the state, the CZU Lightning Complex fire has been a major contributor to that destruction.
Officials said Tuesday that the fire had destroyed 246 homes, seven commercial buildings and 77 other structures.
About 77,000 people have been evacuated.
Officials noted, however, they’d made great strides. Containment of the 78,869acre blaze is now at 17%. Authorities on Tuesday afternoon also lifted all remaining evacuation warnings in Santa Clara County.
“The past couple of days, we’ve seen significant progress in our firefight on this incident,” Cal Fire Operations Chief Mark Brunton said Tuesday.
“The weather has really cooperated with us. We’re steadily getting a trickle of resources in. As soon as we’re getting those resources, we’re putting them to work.”