State ID:CA
3 letter designator:CZU
Fire name:Lightning Complex
Location: Various locations across San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties
Lat/Long [37.09736605, -122.2801549]
Reported acres: 40,000+
Rate of spread:
Report on Conditions:
Structure threat:
Resources:
Hazards:
Weather:
Radio channels:
Scanner link: https://www.broadcastify.com/webPlayer/33534/web
Webcam link: http://www.alertwildfire.org/southeastbay/index.html?camera=Axis-BlackMtSCC&v=81e004f
Agency Website: https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2020/8/17/czu-august-lightning-complex/
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New scanner link!
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50,000 acres. 0 containment.
64,600 people evacuated.
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With the couple large complexes going, does 50k acres mean burnt? Or are they circling all the fires in that complex and coming up with 50k but there is un burnt between them?
50 K is just that one fire… I was just checking the stats, Hennessey fire in LNU is 140,000 acres just for that single fire… which puts it into the top 20 largest fires in California EVER… just that one fire. So the complex is gonna be Huuuuuge. (and record breaking) and the seige is going to be one of the “worst fire season”'s ever.
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I was really hoping that was not the case, but figured it was. Huge for sure!
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6pm update streamed on Cal Fire CZU facebook and San Mateo County Sheriff FB pages. will also stream next press update at 6am tomorrow. 57,000 acres, 2% containment, with 24,000 structures still threatened. 97 structures destroyed and expect to have that number climb as the Damage Assessment teams get out and do their work. Weather was helpful to keep fire behavior down, some small coastal humidity came into the fire area for a short enough time to help a bit. Aircraft at drawdown and biggest factor was smoke. Not able to get aircraft in the area, except on the North side, using them under the smoke whenever possible, but weather not cooperating. Biggest area of concern is the Hwy 9 corridor. Doing the best they can with limited resources, taking small wins and have adjusted tactics to compensate. LE was able to complete evacuations in Scotts Valley today. They also arrested looters with 2 cars full of stolen goods. If you remain in the area & see something/say something. LE is on the alert for this. UC SC is not in the direct threat area right now.
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6 minute am update on tactics & suppression strategy from Ops Chief, Mark Brunton, Cal Fire ICT3.
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Need someone to Prioritize this Scanner to the Cal Fire Command frequencies away from routine LE traffic.
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Very much appreciate the links. I watch each and they help me and family. I hope you or another will continue to post as it takes lot of time for a newbie to figure all this out!
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follow the official facebook or twitter accounts of Cal Fire CZU, Santa Cruz County Sheriff, and San Mateo County Sheriff. Sign up for alerts to get notified when they start broadcasting. Thy’ve been sticking to a 6am, 7am & 6pm schedule. They coordinate and share video streams so news on the fire could be on any one of those. On FB, use the “videos” tab to see all the events they have posted. Getting information straight from the official source is always more reliable than second & third hand reports.
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Summary from the am briefs:
Fire today is 78,000 acres and 13% contained. They have 1,511 personnel assigned on the fire. So far, they have documented 163 structures lost and the damage assessment is continuing. Due to limited resources, all the crews are working extremely hard and they have adjusted their tactics to cover a lot more ground with fewer people.
Weather yesterday was not as significant as they were expecting, so they had another good day with lots of progress constructing fire line. They got some wind on the fire, but no lighting so no new fires. They even got a few hundredths of rain, so the lower elevations (below 1500’) had some good overnight humidity recovery and that will help the fire. Above 1500’ humidity remains at about 17%.
- North Zone has established a set of control lines on the fire and in some cases, the fire has run into lighter fuels and with the humidity the fire has “self-mitigated”
- Around Davenport, the fire hasn’t moved that much it is still hung up on the ridgetop. Once they get more resources into the fire that is something they will go after, but for right now, they have good control line around the community and can protect that community pretty well.
- On the south side, they continue to improve both a primary and secondary control line that runs from Hwy 1 to Hwy 9. Ops Chief feels now that they really have excellent protection for Santa Cruz & the UC campus and they are “very confident” that those lines are going to hold.
- Felton area fire is still well up on the ridge and looking good.
- All along the Hwy 9 corridor, they have established some control lines where the fire is holding up above the communities but they are not as robust as they would like. Much was established very quickly to try and keep the fire in check, its very primary, but with current fire behavior it is working well. It’s in very extreme rugged terrain and not the best placement of fireline that they would like, but they are “working with what we’ve got.” Nothing along the fires edge there is pushing or threatening the communities. You will see more fire as smoke lifts, and it may have material roll out then start small fire runs back up into the burn, but overall it is moving slowly, so when small areas of fire pop up they can move from area to area and get those worked on. There are a few points, where there are no structures, where the fire has come down and touched Hwy 9. That’s good, Hwy 9 will be a good barrier and a good place to stop the fire and once that is extinguished it makes a nice good solid control line along Hwy 9. It will be a painstakingly slow process with a lot of time and persistent effort to complete a solid section of line, but they are diligently working to do that.
- Bonnie Doon area is very difficult because of the number of structures dispersed throughout the area in steep and rugged terrain. The crews continue to make slow progress to make the community more safe.
Burglary suppression & welfare checks were the priority for law enforcement officers in the area last night. Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s office had calls for 10 suspicious people, 2 welfare checks and they still are working on 4 reports of missing people. They will have 79 LE personnel working out in the area today 33 from the Santa Cruz sheriff’s office & 46 others from surrounding local agencies who have contributed people to the fight. They continue to actively monitor the area for people who prey on fire victims. Last night they made 3 arrests. 2 of the people they contacted last night had active warrants, so they were arrested for that and being in a closed evacuation area, as well as a lady from San Francisco who was seen walking in the area with a back pack - she was contacted and arrested for being in a closed evacuation area. They also contacted one person from the area who was “not supposed to be here” and he was cited and escorted out. They have gotten a number of calls about the ongoing “pre-warning” activities in the the City of Santa Cruz. They are trying to do public information activities but there is not a threat to the city of Santa Cruz at this time.
The Wallet - there has been a lot of interest in the story of the firefighter who was robbed while working on the fire. LEOs continue to work on the case and they will track down that person and they will go to jail.
- editors note: I have also seen much discussion about unrelated and uninvolved citizens trying to start GoFundMe unsolicited accounts for the firefighter. Cal Fire CZU has made at least one public statement to try and shut that effort down, but there is still a lot of public interest and numerous fundraiser requests out there of dubious intent
They did recover a fatality victim at the end of Last Chance rd. yesterday. The area was so remote and difficult to access, they had to coordinate a helicopter rescue to go in and bring out the victim.
San Mateo Sheriff’s office said yesterday they had 6 people who were trying to sneak back in to check on their property and had to be rescued. They entered an area that was restricted and they were surprised by the fire so they had to re-direct resources to go get those people out. the good news is that the people were not injured and everybody got out okay.
Unit Chief Larkin says please stay out of the area and do not try to check on your property. We currently have multiple teams going through the area for the purpose of looking at properties and gathering information on them; we are establishing websites for the public to be able to get info on their residences so you can have an idea of what you have left or if your property was undamaged. We also need to make sure it is safe for our inspectors to get into the area so please be patient with us.
PIO message - It is HIGHLY dangerous in the fire area right now. There are large redwood trees, old growth trees that are coming down across the roads right now. There is infrastructure that needs to be repaired, there are old wooden bridges that might not appear to be damaged but are burned and will fail if anybody drives on them. The fire might not be directly your residence right now, but there are huge hazards out there. The last thing the firefighters want is for someone to be hurt or injured after the danger of the fire has passed. We know it’s hard and we know you are all anxious but please be patient, our crews are doing the best they can to get this under control and get you back in your homes as soon as it is safe.
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evening press brief. replay
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Hearing crews on Hubbard Gulch road in Ben Lomond are getting their butts kicked. Lots of fire in very steep terrain and a 50 acre slop. Heavy Helicopters are non-stop trying to knock the heat out of it…dip site is very close thankfully
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They are beginning to populate the Damage Assessment map with data. It might be slow to load, be patient.
https://sccgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=5461c7f372e24ab68ca386e73d58e35a
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6pm
79,640acres
19% contained
443 structures destroyed, 11 in San Mateo Co & 432 in Santa Cruz Co
1,697 personnel assigned
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AM brief Aug 26
80,137 acres
19% contained
538 structures identified destroyed, (11/527)
map continues to be populated with new info as it comes in. 12 Damage Assessment Teams at work.
Blackline on the North East is holding very well, in patrol phase. Still creeping activity on te Northwest side. Davenport may be re-energizing power today if all goes well. Control lines on the south holding well - really good protection for Santa Cruz/UCSC area.
Firing show today /tonight in the South Zone above Felton will be very visible from Hwy 17, they are putting black between the communities and the fire hung up on the ridgeline above Felton & lower Hwy 9.
LE reports third operational period without any arrests, evacuation zone has far less people running around, which is good and makes patrols easier.
IC says situation in areas where fire has secure lines around it will be evaluated for re-population after roadways, utilities and water service can be restored.
Air show with helicopters continues as long as good weather prevails. They have timed out the aircraft for the last three days, 256,000 gallons of water dropped yesterday.
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