Firefighters were cautiously optimistic Monday morning after a night of storms produced little of the lightning and erratic wind that many worried could undo their hard-won progress containing massive wildfires burning around the Bay Area.

Still, the potential for dangerous weather conditions remained a concern for crews working to stop the advance of some of California’s largest-ever wildfires toward homes and communities. Here’s where things stand as of Monday morning:

The CZU Lightning Complex covers 78,000 acres in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties and is 13 percent contained. One person has been killed, and the fire has destroyed 231 structures.

The fires that make up the LNU Lightning Complex, the deadliest and most destructive of the blazes burning throughout Northern California, have grown to 350,030 across five counties. Five people have been killed in the fires, which have destroyed 871 structures and damaged 231 others. The Hennessey Fire, the largest in the complex, is 26 percent contained, while the Walbridge Fire in Sonoma County is 5 percent contained.

The SCU Lightning Complex fires nearly match those in the North Bay for size at 347,196 acres across sparsely populated stretches of five counties, having destroyed just 12 structures. They are 10 percent contained.

Follow along for Monday’s updates on the fires:

Evacuation warnings remain in place for Foothills Park, Palo Alto Foothills | Update: 5:45 p.m.

An evacuation warning for Foothills Park and the Palo Alto Foothills remained in place Monday afternoon as the CZU Lightning Complex Fire continued to burn in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

In an advisory, the city of Palo Alto said firefighters are on fire watch at Station 8 in Foothills Park, and police officers are roving neighborhoods west of Interstate 280.

The air quality continues to be poor in the region, and the city is planning to keep its cooling center at the Mitchell Park Community Center open for residents seeking relief.

Fires burning across the region are continuing to negatively impact air quality, and the city is keeping its cooling center at the Mitchell Park Community Center El Palo Alto open for residents who need refuge from the smoke. The center, located at 3700 Middlefield Road, will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Wednesday, Aug. 26.

Cal Fire downgrades evacuation orders to warnings in Santa Clara, Stanislaus counties | Update: 5:20 p.m.

Cal Fire on Monday afternoon downgraded some evacuation orders to warnings in Santa Clara and Stanislaus counties, where the SCU Lightning Complex Fire continues to burn.

In Morgan Hill, residents were allowed to return to the areas of Holiday Lake Estates, Jackson Oaks and Thomas Grade, the city said in an advisory. Residents, however, were urged to remain prepared to evacuate. The areas east of Hill Road between Main Avenue and Maple Avenue, including Jackson Meadows and the neighborhoods of Coyote Estates and Borello Estates, also remain under an evacuation warning.

Evacuation orders were also reduced to warnings for the following areas of Stanislaus County:

  • North of Orestimba Road and Orestimba Creek between Interstate 5 and the fire perimeter to the Stanislaus-San Joaquin county line
  • South of the Stanislaus-San Joaquin county line between I-5 and the fire perimeter to Orestimba Road and Orestimba Creek
  • East of the fire perimeter to I-5 between the Stanislaus-San Joaquin county line and Orestimba Creek
  • West of I-5 between the Stanislaus-San Joaquin county line and Orestimba Road

“There will be smoke in the respective areas as firefighters continue firefighting operations,” Cal Fire said in an advisory. “If at any time you feel unsafe, please call 911.”

Crews ready for a ‘marathon’ to put out massive SCU blaze | Update 3:45 p.m.

Firefighters have made progress in containing the SCU Complex fire, but are also digging in for a long fight to put out the massive blaze in the South Bay. Crews have built containment lines around some of the northern and eastern edges of the fire, which officials said is 10 percent contained. They’re still worried, though, that it could push farther south toward the Pacheco Pass and Sen Benito County.

“This fire is, by far, a long ways away from being done or completed as we work toward containment,” Cal Fire incident commander Jeff Veik said at a briefing Monday afternoon. “This fire still has the potential to grow in significant acreage in many different areas.”

The fire has torched nearly 350,000 acres across five counties, and threatened the outskirts of San Jose, Fremont, Livermore, Gilroy, Morgan Hill and other cities. But despite its size, the fire hasn’t spread out of sparsely populated areas — only 12 structures have been destroyed in the blaze.

Many of those who have had to evacuate their homes because of the fire are now anxious to get back into those areas. But, Veik said, “We are not there yet.”

That’s due in large part to the size of the fire — by Monday, it represented the third-largest wildfire in California history.

“We are essentially living in a mega-fire era,” said another Cal Fire official, SCU unit chief Jake Hess. That requires officials to evacuate people sooner, and to clear out larger areas to keep residents out of the way of fast-moving fires. “This is going to be a marathon that we’re on,” Hess said.

With Meyers Fire nearly contained, Sonoma County lifts evacuation orders near coast | Update 2:45 p.m.

Sonoma County authorities have lifted evacuation orders along the coast and parts of the Russian River as fire crews have nearly contained the Meyers Fire. The blaze near Fort Ross — the smallest of the three fires that make up the LNU Complex, covering 2,360 acres near the rugged Sonoma Coast — was 95 percent contained as of Monday morning.

Officials on Monday downgraded their mandatory evacuation order to an evacuation warning for the area north of Meyers Grade Road and south of Fort Ross Road along the coast, and areas west of Cazadero Highway, which includes the towns of Duncans Mills, Bridgehaven and Jenner.

Newsom confident in COVID precautions at shelters | Update 2:00 p.m.

Asked about the potential risk of coronavirus spreading at wildfire evacuation centers, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that he is confident the sites have appropriate precautions in place. About 2,200 wildfire evacuees are being housed at centers, Newsom said Monday.

“Going to these shelters I was subjected to screenings, assessments… The nurse who screened me didn’t just take my temperature but asked a series of questions before I could go in.” Newsom said. He also said he saw cots “well in excess of 10 feet apart.”

Read the full story here.

‘Nobody’s letting their guard down’ as fight for Boulder Creek continues | Update 12:30 p.m.

Firefighters in Boulder Creek were scrambling with hand tools and chainsaws Monday morning to build protective lines around homes and hose down burning spots in the Santa Cruz Mountains community that has been under assault from the CZU Complex Fire for days. Fire remained dangerously close to the city’s historic downtown and continued to threaten many houses in the woods to the west. By noon a breeze was picking up, and the temperature was rising.

“It’s going to get worse for us,” said San Mateo Consolidated Fire Department Battalion Chief Joe Novelli, as firefighters kept the flames at bay within 20 feet of a house a quarter mile from the downtown strip along Highway 9.

With several hundred more firefighters having arrived in the past few days, bringing the number to 1,511, crews on the ground were able to take a more aggressive approach against the blaze, proactively protecting houses, Novelli said. Still, the thickly forested and convoluted terrain, along with heavy smoke, make it hard to find the fire at times — the fire the nearby crew was battling had been located by a firefighter who heard it burning, he said.

Despite gains made in and around Boulder Creek, the mountain inferno is still raging. Crews’ primary goal, Novelli said, is to keep it away from the town and the villages to the south in the San Lorenzo Valley, and make sure it doesn’t jump Highway 9. “Nobody’s letting their guard down,” he said.

— Ethan Baron

Scale of wildfires: 1.2 million acres burned since Aug. 15 | Update 11:30 a.m.

In a testament to the intensity of the wildfire crisis that has gripped California over the past week, officials released an estimate Monday that 1.2 million acres have burned across the state since just Aug. 15. More than 14,000 firefighters are battling nearly two dozen major wildfires burning throughout the state, including crews that poured into California from seven other western states, according to Cal Fire.

While Bay Area firefighters were relieved to see few lightning strikes and relatively calm winds overnight, other parts of California weren’t so fortunate. More than 300 lightning strikes were reported statewide, according to Cal Fire, many of them in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada. That’s far fewer than the estimated 12,000 that struck last weekend, but red flag conditions remain in effect for much of Northern California outside the Bay Area.

National Weather Service cancels Bay Area’s red flag warning | Update 9:50 a.m.

Forecasters canceled a red flag warning for dangerous weather conditions Monday morning, the latest in a string of good news for Bay Area firefighters. The warning was set to be in place through Monday afternoon, but by 9:30 a.m. the National Weather Service said the systems that threatened to bring dry lightning and dangerous winds had mostly moved out of the Bay Area.

Bay Area National Weather Service Meteorologist Cindy Palmer said the Bay Area could still see some isolated showers and potentially a stray thunderstorm, but dry lightening is not expected to be an issue anymore.

“The threat of lightning and gusty and erratic winds that accompany thunderstorms have passed, so that is going to be good news for the firefighters out there,” she said.

In areas closer to the coast, like in the Santa Cruz and San Mateo mountains currently affected by the CZU August Lightning Complex Fire, Palmer said a shallow marine layer that is expected to deepen over the coming days should also aid in the effort to suppress the fires there.

–Maggie Angst

Fifth death reported in North Bay fires as growth slows

The LNU Lightning Complex fires saw minimal growth Sunday night, as dire predictions of dry lightning strikes that could cause multiple new blazes never materialized.

The group of fires, burning across Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Yolo and Solano counties, grew by 3,000 acres overnight, to reach about 350,000 acres. Additional good news came Sunday night in the form of a small amount of rain. It likely wasn’t enough to douse any flames, but even a minimal amount of rain increases the humidity in the air, which can make fuel harder to burn.

“That’s pretty outstanding, all things considered,” Cal Fire spokesman Jay Tracy said. “I chalk that up as a win.”

But there was grim news elsewhere as authorities reported Monday that a fifth person had died in the Hennessey Fire. The death occurred in Solano County, according to Cal Fire, which did not provide further information. The Solano County Sheriff’s Office could not be reached immediately Monday morning. The fire has claimed three lives in Napa County and two in Solano County.

Firefighters are bracing for the possibility of more lightning Monday. “We’re still kind of on watch for the next 24 hours,” Tracy said.

–Marisa Kendall

‘We really lucked out’ on lightning, but air quality remains awful

National Weather Service forecasters are keeping their fingers crossed that good firefighting weather will stick around Monday, after the region saw “limited” lightning strikes overnight, most of which were over the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada.

“We really lucked out (Sunday) night,” said meteorologist Cynthia Palmer.

Now if it could simply clear out the smoke, which remained heavy and hazy and was not expected to dissipate. At 5 a.m., the air quality readings in Concord showed the fine particulate matter in Concord and Pleasanton at 159 and Livermore at 158. Any readings over 150 are considered unhealthy for everyone. A Spare the Air alert put out by the Bay Area Air Management District remained in effect through Wednesday.

Read the full story here.

–Rick Hurd

No lightning strikes in CZU Fire zone

Favorable weather conditions overnight helped firefighters make progress in containing the CZU August Lightning Complex fire burning in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Those in the area were anticipating unpredictable weather Sunday night into Monday morning that could have brought more wind gusts up to 65 mph and dry lightning strikes, which is the cause of the fires that started Aug. 16. That didn’t happen — Cal Fire officials said there were no confirmed lightning strikes in the area.

Read the full story here.

–Santa Cruz Sentinel