Evacuation orders issued as more than 360 wildfires scorch California

A mobile home and car burn at Spanish Flat Mobile Villa as the LNU Lightning Complex fires tear through unincorporated Napa County, Calif., on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2020.  Noah Berger/AP

Today will be “another challenging day” as California continues to battle the heat wave and wildfires, Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a press briefing on Wednesday.

“This fire season has been very active,” Newsom said, as he compared the “substantially lower” number of fires last year.

Of the 367 total fires burning statewide, 23 are considered major wildfires.

While California is challenged by the number of active fires burning, Newsom said the state is in a better state of preparedness with a world-class firefighting force and equipment. 

Newsom said every firefighting resource is being utilized and the resources are “stretched” throughout the state. The state is also receiving firefighting support from other states like Arizona, Nevada and Texas. 

Newsom added that these extraordinary weather events continue to put pressure on the energy supply. 

Another “Flex Alert” was issued on Wednesday urging residents to conserve energy from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. PT to avoid potential rotating power outages. 

Over 47,000 megawatts of electricity are expected to be utilized on Wednesday due to the high temperatures. About 38,000 megawatts are used on a typical summer day, according to Newsom.  

“We really need everybody to do everything in their power to reduce consumption,” said Newsom.

The Vacaville Senior Center in Northern California has opened as an evacuation center for residents affected by the wildfire. So far, about 20 people are there.

Marci and Ken Albers, who lost their Vacaville home, are at the center now. The Albers evacuated around 2 a.m. local time with only the clothes on their back.  

They said the fire chief told them that there were no fire trucks to battle the blaze because they were all being used to fight another fire in Lake Berryessa.   

Marci Albers continued: “I was just thinking that after we left — the house will be there and we’ll be fine. I’m in shock. I can’t even think straight. We had 30 years of stuff in that house.”

Lightning forks seen over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland, California on Sunday on August 16, 2020. Numerous lightning strikes early Sunday sparked brush fires throughout the region. Noah Berger/AP

Approximately 10,849 lightning strikes have sparked 367 new fires in California overnight, Cal Fire spokesperson Jeremy Rahn said in a news conference. In all, Cal Fire estimates that over 300,000 acres have burned.

The LNU Lightning Complex is a group of many separate fires in Northern California, stretching over five counties. Some of those fires are believed to have merged for an estimated 42,000 burned acres.

Evacuations are ongoing throughout the region, yet officials do not have a clear number on exactly how many people have been told to leave their homes. The day’s priorities are firefighter and public safety, evacuation planning, and structure and infrastructure protection, Chief Chris Waters outlined.

Hot, dry winds and resources that have been stretched thin will hamper today’s efforts, an incident commander said. Cal Fire has requested 375 fire engines from out of state to assist in the battle.

The LNU Lightning Complex is a series of eight large fires burning across Napa, Sonoma and Solano Counties in Northern California. In total, more the complex includes 46,000 acres of wildfires.

Aerial images from KPIX showed the LNU Lightning Complex fire near Lake Berryessa.

Here's what it looks like:

The National Weather Service in Lubbock, Texas, said recent colorful sunsets in the area are due to the wildfires raging in both California and Colorado.

"Have you noticed the colorful sunsets lately? Unfortunately, the reason is smoke from wildfires across CO and CA," the service tweeted.

The service also tweeted a model of where smoke will travel over the next day. It covers much of the western half of the country:

Smoke is thick in Glenwood Canyon from the Grizzly Creek fire near Glenwood Springs, Colorado, on August 16. Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily via AP

California is not the only state facing spreading wildfires. There are at least four raging in Colorado — and the state's Pine Gulch Fire grew to 125,100 acres overnight, according to the latest operations update posted on InciWeb. 

The fire grew over 30,000 acres in the southern and western side of the fire due to 30 to 40 mph sustained winds, Pat Seekins of the operations section of the Pine Gulch team said in this morning’s update posted to the fire’s Facebook page. 

The Pine Gulch Fire is the second largest fire in Colorado history, according to the Rocky Mountain Area Coordinating Center.  

Seekins said today that firefighters had some success containing the fire on the northern side but the primary concern is the northwest and western side of the fire. The latest update shows that the temperatures in the area are the highest they’ve been since early August and that there are thunderstorms and wind gusts of 20 to 30 mph forecast for this afternoon.

The fire remains at 7% contained due to the continued growth of the fire, according to the latest update. 

Vacaville Police are going door-to-door to get residents out of harm’s way as more areas are added to the potential path of wildfires. Dispatchers are using the reverse 911 system to notify those in danger.

The Hennessey Fire is the key component of the LNU Lightning Complex, a group of wildfires in Napa, Sonoma, and Solano Counties that is now estimated at 46,225 acres, according Cal Fire.

Nearly 600 firefighters are assigned to fighting the fire. At least 50 homes have been destroyed and another 50 damaged. Close to 2,000 structures are threatened.

Horses stand in an enclosure Tuesday as the LNU Complex fires tear through the Spanish Flat community in unincorporated Napa County.

At least 33 wildfires are currently burning more than 141,000 acres in Northern California.

The major fires are broken up into three zones: 

A red flag warning is in place in parts of Northern California, including the areas around Vacaville, which has issued some evacuations because of a nearby wildfire.

About red flag warnings: This is a warning the National Weather Service issues when conditions are perfect for wildfires to start and to spread, for example, during hot, dry, windy weather.

"Red flag warning for very low humidity and gusty wind today into Thursday morning....very low humidity combined with gusty northwest to west wind will continue critical fire weather conditions today into Thursday morning," the service said today.