SAN FRANCISCO—A series of lightning strikes caused fires in several Bay Area counties have spread across 25,000 acres total, and has zero containment as of 2:00 p.m. July 18, an update on CAL FIRE’s website reads. The fire spread across various locations in San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Alameda, San Joaquin, and Santa Clara counties. The first fire was reported around 10:30 p.m. on August 17 after a lightning storm.
According to a report from fire.ca.gov, multiple lightning strikes caused these fires across the counties, with the largest fires burning in the Butano Creek area. Some of the largest fires so far are:
- Waddell (Santa Cruz Co) : 118 acres covered, 0 percent contained, Old Coast Road X HWY 1
- 5-14 (San Mateo Co.) – 215 acres covered, 0 percent contained, Olmo Truck Trail X Butano Fire Road
- 5-15 (San Mateo Co.) – 272 acres covered, 0 percent contained, N. Butano Truck Trail X Dearborne Park Road
- 5-18 (San Mateo Co.) – 117 acres covered, 0 percent contained, N. Butano Truck Trail X China Grade Road
CAL FIRE has assigned and deployed various resources in order to help combat and contain the fire, including 7 helicopters, 35 engines, 1 dozer, and 11 water tenders. An evacuation order has been put out for neighborhoods in Alameda and Stanislaus counties, although more evacuation orders could follow depending on how the situation develops.
