Bay Area fires are heading towards San Jose; the evacuations widen

Evacuations widened in the San Francisco Bay Area overnight as wildfires ringing the area burned hundreds of square miles of land, made their way to San Jose and possibly produced the worst air quality in the world.

In all, more than 349,000 acres burned in northern and central California – the equivalent of 546 square miles, more than the area of ​​the entire city of Los Angeles. At least 134 structures have been destroyed and the fire-prone weather conditions that have resulted in record high temperatures and thousands of lightning strikes over the past few days are not expected to abate anytime soon.

The largest cluster of overnight fires occurred in wine country, the LNU Lightning Complex fire, which blackened a total of 124,100 acres and triggered the evacuation of non-essential personnel from Travis Air Force Base in Solano County and patients at Adventist Health St. Helena Hospital in Napa. County.

In Sonoma County, the entire town of Healdsburg was under an evacuation warning early Thursday.

The fires also triggered evacuation orders on the eastern edge of San Jose, following the SCU Lightning Complex fire, which burned 102,000 acres in several locations generally east of Silicon Valley and North America. east bay and west of the central valley. The flames were near the famous Lick Observatory, which serves University of California astronomers.

Additional evacuation orders have been issued in the path of the CZU August Lightning Complex fire, which raged in the remote mountainous region southwest of Silicon Valley on the border of San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties . The fire burned 25,000 acres and forced the evacuation of more than 22,000 people, officials said Wednesday evening.

In San Mateo County, the fire at the CZU August Lightning Complex threatened the communities of Pescadero and La Honda. In Santa Cruz County, structures were lost in the Swanton Road area and a Cal fire station was under threat.

The evacuation area from this fire quickly expanded and now includes the communities of Davenport, Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek.

The weather for the next three days looks grim, Cal Fire’s Mark Brunton said.

“It makes this threat very direct and very real,” he said. “We are doing all we can to protect life and property.”

According to the PurpleAir website, the Bay Area was home to the worst air quality in the world on Thursday. Air quality is particularly poor in Silicon Valley, San Mateo County and Livermore Valley, according to local air quality management officials.

“The smoke can irritate the eyes and respiratory tract, causing coughs, a dry, itchy throat and sore sinuses,” the Bay Area Air Quality Management District said. “Particles high in the air can trigger wheezing in those with asthma, emphysema” and other chronic respiratory conditions.

The Bay Area National Meteorological Service office has warned that high fire conditions will persist until Thursday morning, with possible gusty winds in the high altitudes.

“Very dry and hot conditions will persist in the interior and at the high altitudes of the region,” the weather service said. “Smoky and foggy conditions are likely to impact parts of the region at least over the coming weekend.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 367 major fires were burning across the state, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.

“This fire season has been very active and, unsurprisingly, this activity has taken shape in a number of counties up and down the state,” he said at a news briefing.

By the same time last year, crews responded to a total of 4,007 fires statewide, Newsom said. They have already been sent to 6,754 this year.

The rapid outbreak of new fires has pushed the state’s firefighting resources to their limit.

Jeremy Rahn, Cal Fire’s public information officer for the LNU Lightning Complex blaze, said on Wednesday that the state had already requested 375 additional fire trucks as well as additional hand crews from agencies outside the State, and had hired “almost every private service available.” firefighting planes “call when needed” in the western United States. “

“The scale and complexity to which these incidents burn call into question all aspects of emergency response,” he said during a press briefing. “Firefighting resources are depleted as new fires continue to ignite.”

Newsom, however, expressed confidence that California is up to the challenge and thanked leaders of other states – including Arizona, Nevada and Texas – for their pledges to send additional resources.

California is “putting everything we have on these fires,” he said, and “we are now getting support from some of our partners in the western United States, and for that, again, we are very grateful.

Lin reported from San Francisco and Miller, Money and Serna from Los Angeles. Times editors Anita Chabria, Taryn Luna, Susanne Rust, and Colleen Shalby contributed to this report.