Yolo County evacuations still in place as LNU Complex swells in size, jumps highway
The LNU Lightning Complex cluster of wildfires that has been burning in California’s North Bay area the past 10 days flared up Wednesday, growing by 11,000 acres with no additional containment reported in the past 24 hours, Cal Fire said Thursday morning.
An erratic arm of the LNU Complex jumped Highway 16 Wednesday afternoon and prompted mandatory evacuations starting at 4 p.m. in the northwest corner of Yolo County, including the sparsely populated community of Rumsey and the area near Cache Creek Canyon Regional Park. Those parts of the county, called evacuation zones 1 and 2, remained under mandatory orders as of Thursday morning, the county office of emergency services said.
The LNU Lightning Complex Fire is a group of fires that has burned more than 368,000 acres (575 square miles) across parts of Napa, Sonoma, Lake, Solano and Yolo counties since sparking Aug. 17 during a flurry of lightning strikes, according to a Thursday morning update from Cal Fire.
The fire complex has killed at least five people and leveled close to 1,100 buildings. Cal Fire says 30,000 more homes and businesses remain threatened, according to Thursday morning’s incident update, leaving numerous evacuation orders, advisories and road closures in place throughout portions of all five counties. It’s one of California’s three largest wildfires in recorded history, the state agency says.
The two biggest individual fires that make up the LNU Complex are the Hennessey Fire, which has consumed over 3111,000 acres in Napa and Lake counties, at 33% containment; and the 55,000-acre Walbridge Fire, west of Healdsburg in Sonoma County, which was 19% contained as of Wednesday evening.
The complex is a whole is reported at 33% containment, Cal Fire said Thursday morning, the same figure given the previous morning. After soaring in size last week, fire crews made good progress during the weekend and earlier this week as temperatures dropped and weather conditions calmed.
Lightning strikes in another round of thunderstorms that passed through California early Monday missed the LNU Complex wildfire zone, a huge relief for the now nearly 2,300 fire personnel combating the inferno.
Twice-daily situation reports from Cal Fire have continued to warn of the potential for “extreme” fire behavior on the complex, including long-range spotting of embers that can flare up its growth in multiple directions.
Fire activity has been most intense within Napa, Lake and Sonoma counties, but last week in Solano County, flames pushed into the western outskirts of Vacaville, and the blaze briefly jumped Interstate 80 near Fairfield.
The LNU Complex is virtually tied in size with another active, lightning-sparked wildfire incident, the SCU Complex burning mainly southeast of San Jose. Cal Fire reported each fire at between 368,000 and 369,000 acres as of 7 a.m. Thursday, with the LNU fire overtaking the SCU fire by about 200 acres. The only fire in state history bigger than either was the Mendocino Complex, which charred over 459,000 acres in 2018.
Sacramento air quality improving slightly
Current wildfires are still impacting air quality in the Sacramento area, according to local air officials, but Thursday is expected to be a little better than recent days.
Air pollution was minimal in the morning. SpareTheAir.com showed readings mostly in the “moderate” range (AQI of 51 to 100) and even some areas, including Elk Grove and Arden Arcade, listed as having “good” air quality (AQI below 50) as of 7:30 a.m. Thursday.
But Spare The Air’s forecasts predict AQI readings from 101 to 150, considered unhealthy for sensitive groups, later Thursday in Sacramento and El Dorado counties; and at levels considered unhealthy for general populations (AQI of 151 to 200) in Placer, Yolo and Solano counties.
When air conditions are unhealthy, residents are advised to limit extended outdoor time as much as possible. If you can smell wildfire smoke, that means it is potentially hazardous to your health.
