Name: Lightning sparks multiple fires in Bay Area, Santa Cruz mountains
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Lightning sparks multiple fires in Bay Area, Santa Cruz mountains

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ByImageCaptionCloseA fire burns near Mt. Diablo on Aug. 16, 2020.A fire burns near Mt. Diablo on Aug. 16, 2020.Lightning sparks multiple fires in Bay Area, Santa Cruz mountainsBack to GalleryAn unusually fierce summer storm has sparked multiple grass fires around the Bay Area Sunday morning."" and gusty winds, combined with dry, hot air, is the likely culprit behind multiple fires. The largest cluster so far appears to be several fires sparked in the Marsh Creek/Deer Valley Road area of Contra Costa County near Brentwood. At 10:15 a.m., Cal Fire reported the Deer Zone fire is at least 3-5 different fires, totaling 100 acres. The agency is battling the fire on the ground and by air. and intense fire activity in the hills.Residents near Morgan Territory Road near Mt. Diablo are being urged to prepare for evacuations, if needed."Gather any essential items you could carry with you, including medications, baby supplies, money, important papers, photos," Cal Fire said. "Locate any pets and be prepared to cage or leash them."Alameda County also sent out a warning on Sunday afternoon, asking residents of the Berkeley hills to stay prepared to evacuate at a moment's notice. A red flag warning there has been extended to Monday morning.Since 1 a.m., Cal Fire crews have been fighting at least 11 brush fires in San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties. The largest of them appears to be the Warnella Fire near Bonny Doon in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Cal Fire tweeted that aircraft has been requested for daylight operations. As of 12 p.m., Cal Fire said the fire has burned 20 acres of brush and is 25% contained.Raw video: Dozer 18 working to contain a vegetation fire this am in Sycamore Grove Park in Livermore. The fire was stopped at approx 50 acres with no injuries to firefighters. — Alameda County Fire (@AlamedaCoFire)"Most presumed to have started from lightning strikes. Forward progress has been stopped on most of these fires. We're working to get more resources, stretched thin due to heavy fire activity," Cal Fire's San Mateo-Santa Cruz unit tweeted late Sunday morning.There is also the Arroyo Fire in the South Livermore area. By 8 a.m., firefighters were holding the vegetation fire near 5200 Arroyo Road at about 50 acres. One structure was threatened, according to Alameda County Fire, and there is 50% containment.Firefighters also stamped down a vegetation fire in the Redwood Estates Area in Los Gatos. The fire began in the 20730 Brush Road area off of Highway 17 around 3 a.m. Evacuations were needed as powerlines were down, reported Cal Fire. By mid-morning, that fire was 100% contained. Rainy conditions in the area slowed its spread.at 8 a.m. that several small, lightning-sparked fires were burning in the county, including one near Throckmorton Station on Mount Tamalpais. There are no evacuations in place."Wild night in the San Francisco Bay Area," . "This is probably the most widespread and violent summer thunderstorm event in memory for Bay Area, &amp; it's also one of the hottest nights in years."The storm took out power in many parts of the Bay Area. Major outages in PG&amp;E's service area include 15,000 customers in Sonoma County, 8,000 in Marin County, 6,000 in the San Lorenzo/Hayward area and 4,000 in South Bay, along with a large number of smaller outages around the region.Silicon Valley Power, the municipal energy provider for the city of Santa Clara, said it is receiving so many calls about outages that its telephone system is overloaded. "We won't be able to respond to inquiries about estimated restoration until we investigate," the agency said.An air quality advisory through Monday was issued by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District due to wildfires smoke. The BAAQMD said that while air quality conditions are expected to be moderate to good, the numerous fires around the Bay Area could cause the quality to deteriorate."If possible, stay inside with windows and doors closed until smoke levels subside, if temperatures allow," the district said. "It is also recommended that those impacted by smoke set their air conditioning units and car vent systems to re-circulate to prevent outside air from moving inside."Real-time .The Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigateAn unusually fierce summer storm has sparked multiple grass fires around the Bay Area Sunday morning."" and gusty winds, combined with dry, hot air, is the likely culprit behind multiple fires. The largest cluster so far appears to be several fires sparked in the Marsh Creek/Deer Valley Road area of Contra Costa County near Brentwood. At 10:15 a.m., Cal Fire reported the Deer Zone fire is at least 3-5 different fires, totaling 100 acres. The agency is battling the fire on the ground and by air. and intense fire activity in the...

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Katie Dowd

KatieDowd

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Lightning sparks multiple fires in Bay Area, Santa Cruz mountains

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