Wildfires Have Burned Over 700,000 Acres Across Northern California in the Past 7 Days

In the week following the violent thunderstorms that sent over 10,000 lightning strikes into California, over 300 fires have started across the state. While many of those fires were quickly extinguished, others used the heat and dry conditions to grow rapidly, creating 700,000 acres of wildfire in just 7 days across Northern California.

The three largest fires – LNU Lightning Complex, SCU Lightning Complex and August Complex – make up approximately 565,000 acres of the fires burning in the area. But across 14 significant wildfire incidents in NorCal, it’s likely to see a million acres of land burned over a 2-week span.

Five people have already died in these fires.

Friday morning update: the same math this morning suggests that we're now approaching 700,000 acres in NorCal in past week, with 500,000 of these in the immediate vicinity of the San Francisco Bay Area. #CAwx #CAfire #LNULightingComplex #SCULightningComplex #CZULightningComplex https://t.co/DbI5ga5gUU

— Daniel Swain (@Weather_West) August 21, 2020

While it’s easy to say that this wildfire season has proven different than any we’ve seen in a long time, it’s also scary to think that we have a few more months of the season in front of us. Meteorologists are forecasting more dry thunderstorms are on the way to California, which could only intensify the current situation and put more lives and personal property at risk.

Here is a rundown of all the fires in Northern California as of Friday morning:

LNU Lightning Complex
219,067 acres

SCU Lightning Complex
229,968 acres 10% contained

Red Salmon Complex Shasta-Trinity NF/Six Rivers NF #RedFire + #SalmonFire
16,485 acres 39% contained

Loyalton Fire Sierra County
46,872 acres 60% contained

Jones Fire Nevada County
705 acres 25% contained

River Fire Monterey County
33,654 acres 7% contained

Gamble Fire Napa County
5000 acres

Butte Lightning Complex Butte County
2,542 acres 20% contained

Claremont Fire Plumas County
3,101 acres

North Complex Plumas NF
10,382 acres

August Complex Mendocino NF
117,365 acres 6% contained

CZU August Lightning Complex
Includes Waddell, Warrenella – 40,000 acres

Glenn-Tehama Lightning Complex
27,500 acres 5% contained

Creek Fire Mendocino County
820 acres 90% contained

Stay safe, NorCal