SCU Lightning Complex Fire Controlled, 4 Months After Ignition

BAY AREA, CA — The SCU Lightning Complex fires that tore through some 400,000 acres of six Bay Area and Central Valley counties has been declared controlled.

Chief Jake Hess of the Cal Fire Santa Clara Unit, for which the fires are named, made the announcement Thursday afternoon. There is no risk of re-ignition.

The SCU Lightning fires were sparked by an August 18 lightning storm and went on to become the third-largest blaze in California history, destroying more than 200 buildings and injuring six people.

The fires affected Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Joaquin, Merced and Stanislaus counties.

Just last week the Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz Unit declared the CZU Lightning Complex fires controlled. Those fires were sparked around the same time as the SCU Lightning Complex fires and killed one person, scorched more than 85,500 acres and destroyed nearly 1,500 buildings. The SCU Lightning Complex fires are the twelfth most destructive wildfires in California history.