Residents flee blazes amid heat
Fires: Lightningcaused flames force evacuations in Bay Area counties
Residents in multiple Bay Area counties fled their homes under mandatory evacuation orders Monday as inland temperatures soared above 100 degrees and firefighters battled a series of rapidly spreading wildfires sparked by lightning storms — with a threat of more on the way.
The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings across Northern California through Monday evening, as extreme weather conditions ramped up the risk of wildfire activity across the region. An excessive heat warning was expected to remain in effect until Wednesday.
Elsewhere in the state, temperatures reached
even more staggering numbers — in Death Valley, temperatures hit 130 degrees Sunday, potentially the hottest global temperature ever recorded, according to the National Weather Service.
The head of California’s primary electric grid manager warned that rolling blackouts were in store Monday but later said they were not needed. Grid managers blamed the power shortage on several factors, with the extreme and widespread nature of the heat wave being most decisive, forcing broiling households to crank up energysapping air conditioners.
“We’re going to see more thunderstorms throughout the area,” said Brian Garcia, a meteorologist with the agency’s Bay Area unit. “I would not be surprised if we see more wildfires, but it all depends on where the lightning strikes.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday said the torturous temperatures across California have “put an enormous amount of pressure” on firefighters as the state battles at least 15 fires.
However, the governor said fire officials are confident they will be able to quickly tackle smaller blazes, while some of the larger fires, such as the River Fire near Monterey, could take longer to contain.
Napa County officials on Monday ordered evacuations due to the LNU Lightning Complex fires — a series of more than 60 lightningcaused fires that started on Monday. Most were less than an acre but two were large and uncontained: the Hennessey and Gamble fires. Altogether, the complex had burned more than 3,100 acres as of Monday night, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Hennessey Fire was burning 2,500 acres about 25 miles northeast of Santa Rosa in hilly terrain. The Gamble Fire was burning about 600 acres north of Lake Berryessa.
Evacuation orders were also in place for the Marsh Fire in Alameda County, which burned 1,775 acres by Monday night, and the Deer Zone Fires in eastern Contra Costa County near Brentwood, which scorched more than 1,160 acres as of Monday evening.
At the Marsh Fire, a combination of four vegetation flareups that started Sunday, residents of about 10 homes on Welch Creek Road near Sunol, about 10 miles south of Pleasanton, were ordered to leave their homes. No injuries were reported.
Mike Cerny, 74, has lived in one of those 10 homes for 40 years with his wife. On Sunday night, Cerny watched as fire engines parked in the driveways of his home and the homes of his neighbors. Before they were forced to evacuate Monday afternoon, Cerny said he could see flames from at least two fires from all the windows of the house.
They grabbed their photos and other irreplaceable valuables and left behind the home Cerny built, including his wife’s antique Barbie doll collection.
“We could see the flames over the ridge, the smoke,” he said from a Jack in the Box parking lot, eating his first meal of the day, a Sourdough Jack sandwich, and his first coffee in 24 hours. “I don’t think anything has hit us as far as what could happen.”
The Deer Zone Fires also broke out Sunday night, and Contra Costa County sheriff ’s deputies evacuated residents along Marsh Creek and Morgan Territory roads southeast of Brentwood and north of Livermore.
The Red Cross was housing Deer Zone Fires evacuees Monday at nearby hotel rooms, according to a supervisor with Brentwood’s Parks and Recreation Department.
Throughout 20 years and numerous fires, Clint C., 49, and Kirsten C., 45, a married couple living in a mobile home park off Marsh Creek Road, said they have evacuated only four times — including Sunday night. Roughly a dozen fire engines were on the roadway while police drove up and down their street with sirens on, honking and telling residents to flee.
“You get anxiety and worked up,” Clint said. “It was stressful.”
“We were scared this time,” Kirsten said. “We thought something was going to get to our house. This fire is not funny.”
They packed up their two cats and dog and drove to Clint’s motherinlaw’s house in San Ramon, where they stayed the night.
“It was a nightmare trying to get the pets out,” Clint said.
Much farther south, in Monterey County, the rapidly growing River Fire east of Salinas reached 2,800 acres Monday, according to Cal Fire. Five homes were destroyed, 1,500 other structures were threatened and four firefighters suffered heatrelated injuries while fighting the blaze.
Lightning caused the River Fire, which had burned 2,800 acres and was 10% contained Monday night, officials said.
Fire officials were using the Global SuperTanker, a Boeing 747400 that was deployed to battle the Camp Fire in 2018.
A series of smaller fires also dotted other parts of the north state, including the Jones Fire in Nevada County, and the Feather and Loyalton fires in Sierra County.
In Butte County, firefighters were battling multiple fires caused by 1,500 lightning strikes that hit Monday morning. In the afternoon, the county Sheriff ’s Office ordered evacuations for several roads north of the Feather River.
“Although some rainfall accompanied this storm, it’s important for residents to continue to be extremely cautious in their outdoor activities because there is still a very high fire danger,” said Cal Fire Chief John Messina.
A new round of thunder and lightning storms moved through San Francisco and into the North Bay on Monday morning as heat advisories and excessive heat warnings continued across the region, officials said.
“We’re going to continue to see temperatures well above normal — from 10 to 20 degrees depending on where you live — for the next few days,” Garcia, said.
The unusual weather pattern is being caused by a dome of high pressure sitting over southwest Utah, which is also causing excessive heat in Southern California, he added.
“It’s probably too early to say if it’s the result of climate change,” Garcia said. “But it is an unusual pattern. I’ve never seen anything on the coastal strip set up like this for so long. The rule of thumb in our office is three days of heat and then it breaks. This goes against every rule of thumb.”