42-477: The LNU Lightning Complex fires were a large complex of wildfires that burned during the 2020 California wildfire season across much of the Wine Country area of Northern California – Lake , Napa , Sonoma , Solano , and Yolo Counties, from August 17 to October 2, 2020. The complex was composed of numerous lightning-sparked fires, most of which were small. While they ignited separately from each other,
84-518: A buildup of fuel, increasing the risk of large uncontrollable fires. There is broad scientific consensus that there should be more controlled burning of forests in California in order to reduce fire risk. A 2020 ProPublica investigation blames a combination of climate change and a history of insufficient controlled burning for the increase in "megafires." A sharp increase in the population and development of fire-prone areas has also contributed to
126-588: A combination of a record-breaking heat wave and strong katabatic winds , (including the Jarbo, Diablo , and Santa Ana ) caused explosive fire growth. The August Complex became California's largest recorded wildfire. The Creek Fire expanded in the Big Creek drainage area, temporarily trapping hundreds of campers near the Mammoth Pool Reservoir . The North Complex explosively grew in size as
168-430: A female householder with no husband present, 2 (2.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 6 (7.5%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships , and 2 (2.5%) same-sex married couples or partnerships . 36 households (45.0%) were made up of individuals, and 9 (11.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.70. There were 34 families (42.5% of all households);
210-791: A model pump made of pure gold, which is the only golden model that the Patent Office has ever received. Jenner’s family joined him in 1852. Traveling by ship from the Great Lakes to Panama, it crossed the Isthmus and sailed up the Pacific Coast. By 1854, the Jenners had settled near the mouth of the Russian River and built a house in what became known as Jenner Gulch, the site of the town. Charles K. Jenner would go on to be
252-787: A population of 122 per the 2020 Census . It is located on the Pacific coast near the mouth of the Russian River . State Route 1 runs through the town and State Route 116 runs nearby, along the Russian River. Immediately south of Jenner is Goat Rock Beach , a unit within the Sonoma Coast State Beach . Directly north, the Jenner Headlands Preserve offers scenic overlooks of the Jenner Estuary and surrounding areas. Historically, Jenner
294-423: A professor of fire science at UC Berkeley , estimated that prior to 1850, about 4,500,000 acres (1,800,000 ha) burned yearly, in fires that lasted for months. Activity peaked roughly every 30 years, with up to 11,800,000 acres (4,800,000 ha) burning during peak years. The indigenous peoples of California historically set controlled burns and allowed natural fires to run their course. The peak of
336-441: A prominent attorney in early Seattle, arguing several cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Stillwater Cove Regional Park, located 16 miles (26 km) north of Jenner, features picnic facilities, beach access, and a historic one-room schoolhouse . Jenner received media attention in 2004 after the bodies of Lindsay Cutshall and Jason S. Allen were discovered on Fish Head Beach just north of town. The incident became known as
378-500: A state of emergency, and on August 19, 2020, reported that the state was battling 367 known fires, many sparked by intense thunderstorms on August 16–17 caused by moisture from the remnants of Tropical Storm Fausto . Response and evacuations were complicated by a historic heatwave and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic . On August 22, President Donald Trump issued a major disaster declaration (DR-4558), which provides Individual Assistance and/or Public Assistance. In early September 2020,
420-673: A suspect was charged by the Monterey County Sheriff with arson relating to the Dolan Fire ; however, this has not been officially determined as the cause of the fire. In April 2021, another suspect, already arrested and charged for the murder of a woman, was charged with arson relating to the Markley Fire, one of the wildfires involving in the LNU Lightning Complex fires ; according to authorities,
462-564: Is the seventh-largest wildfire in the recorded history of California . The name of the complex fire refers to the name of the local unit of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), the Sonoma–Lake–Napa Unit (LNU). In the early morning hours of Sunday, August 16 through Monday, August 17, a series of highly unusual thunderstorms rolled through most of northern California, which came from
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#1732782400767504-629: The Berryessa Highlands and Spanish Flat areas as the fires rapidly raged towards those communities. By this time, the Hennessey Fire has reportedly only destroyed one structure and two outbuildings in the area and threatened 205 structures, however an additional 390 homes in the Berryessa Estates area were now reportedly threatened and multiple structures were reported burning throughout the valley. Later that afternoon,
546-603: The Hennessey Fire eventually grew to merge with the Gamble , Green , Markley , Spanish , and Morgan fires, scorching 192,000 acres (777 km) by itself, for a total burn area of 363,220 acres (1,470 km) in the complex. The fire, which burned in the hills surrounding several large cities, such as Fairfield , Napa , and Vacaville , destroyed 1,491 structures and damaged a further 232. In all, six people were killed and another five injured. The LNU Lightning Complex
588-629: The Jenner, California double-murder of 2004 . According to the United States Census Bureau , the CDP covers an area of 2.4 square miles (6.2 km ), 2.1 square miles (5.5 km ) of it land, and 0.3 square miles (0.7 km ) of it (12.00%) water. The 2010 United States Census reported that Jenner had a population of 136. The population density was 56.7 inhabitants per square mile (21.9/km ). The racial makeup of
630-537: The Russian River -- which displaced hundreds of residences by nightfall as the fire grew to 500 acres. Meanwhile, a 15 acre fire had also been spotted burning between Meyers Grade and Highway 1 north of the community of Jenner after being caused by lightning the day prior and would later be dubbed the Meyers Fire as it also rapidly expanded in the area. Mandatory evacuations were put in place for areas west of Meyers Grade Road, south of Fort Ross Road and North of
672-465: The University of Oxford Environmental Change Institute states, "There is absolutely no doubt that the extremely high temperatures are higher than they would have been without human-induced climate change. A huge body of attribution literature demonstrates now that climate change is an absolute game-changer when it comes to heat waves, and California won't be the exception." Susan Clark, director of
714-556: The "15-10" near Putah Creek Bridge had burned 8,000 acres, and the newly-ignited Markley Fire near the Monticello Dam had also grown to 2,500 acres. All of them were reported to be zero percent contained that night. By 11:30 pm, the Hennessey Fire was seen still burning at a critical to dangerous rate of spread as the massive conflagration had traveled 13 miles to the southeast scorching the Vaca Mountains and rolled down
756-408: The CDP was 91.9% White , 1.5% African American , 1.5% Asian , and 5.1% from two or more races. 5.9% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. The Census reported that 100% of the population lived in households. There were 80 households, out of which 6 (7.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 26 (32.5%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 6 (7.5%) had
798-545: The Hennessey Fire. The incident was reported alongside several other fires nearby. These included the Gamble Fire, which began burning in an area off Berryessa Knoxville Road north of Lake Berryessa and west of State Route 16 ; the Spanish Fire, which was burning near Spanish Flat; the 15-10 Fire, burning near Putah Bridge; and the Markley Fire, near Monticello Dam . Resources to fight these fires were scarce due to
840-575: The Sustainability Initiative at the University at Buffalo argues, "This is climate change. This increased intensity and frequency of temperatures and heat waves are part of the projections for the future. [...] There is going to be more morbidity and mortality [from heat.] There are going to be more extremes." The National Interagency Fire Center's (NFIC) National Interagency Coordination (NICC) reported that monthly outlooks for
882-592: The average family size was 2.24. The population was spread out, with 7 people (5.1%) under the age of 18, 3 people (2.2%) aged 18 to 24, 15 people (11.0%) aged 25 to 44, 81 people (59.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 30 people (22.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 58.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 115.0 males. There were 158 housing units at an average density of 65.9 per square mile (25.4/km ), of which 66.3% were owner-occupied and 33.8% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate
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#1732782400767924-403: The canyons towards the city of Fairfield and Vacaville . This dangerous fire spread spurred additional mandatory evacuations for north Fairfield and northwest Vacaville as the fireline made its way down Mix Canyon Road to Pleasants Valley Road and proceeded to destroy hundreds of structures in areas to the west and north of the cities. In September, fire activity decreased significantly within
966-571: The complex, as firefighters brought most of the fire complex under control. By mid-September, only the Hennessey and Walbridge Fires were still burning within the complex. On October 2, 2020, CAL FIRE reported that the entire complex had been extinguished. 2020 California wildfires The 2020 California wildfire season , part of the 2020 Western United States wildfire season , was a record-setting year for wildfires in California . Over
1008-437: The course of the year, 8,648 fires burned 4,304,379 acres (1,741,920 ha), more than four percent of the state's roughly 100 million acres of land, making 2020 the largest wildfire season recorded in California's modern history . However, it is roughly equivalent to the pre-1800 levels which averaged around 4.4 million acres yearly and up to 12 million in peak years. California's August Complex fire has been described as
1050-414: The drought conditions. Despite this, Northern California was still expected to have severe wildfire conditions due to the moderate or severe drought conditions in the area, whereas Central and Southern California were expected to have serious fire conditions later in the year due to the late wet season and precipitation. On June 18, climate scientist Daniel Swain predicted the 2020 Arizona wildfire season
1092-427: The entire country will still drive wildfires across the country but especially California. The main drivers through fall and winter seasons will be La Nina, and drought conditions are going to continue through California, causing the wildfires to continue. The shift will start from Northern California to Southern California as precipitation will lessen the impact of wildfires across northern California. In August 2020,
1134-505: The fire further threatened additional rural areas along Highway 128 as it jumped the two-lane winding highway twice and it raced towards the Vaca Mountains bordering Napa and Solano County. At 8:15 pm on Tuesday night, CAL FIRE has reported that the Hennessey Fire had consumed 10,000 acres, the Gamble Fire off of Berryessa Knoxville Road has also consumed 10,000 acres, the Spanish Fire near Spanish Flat had grown to 1,000 acres,
1176-539: The fire was set to cover up the aforementioned murder. Arson has also been suspected as the cause of the Ranch 2 Fire in Los Angeles County. A 2023 study found that these wildfires are affecting the California ecosystem and disrupting the habitats. It found that in the 2020 and 2021 fire seasons 58% of the area affected by wildfires occurred in those two seasons since 2012. These two fires destroyed 30% of
1218-524: The fires. Air attack reported additional spot fires beginning to flare up due to the deteriorating weather conditions, as at least 20 to 30 new fires ignited by lightning the day prior were discovered. One of those ignitions was the actively expanding Walbridge Fire (then the 13-4 Fire) that had started in rugged hills north of the Austin Creek State Recreation Area of Sonoma County . Evacuation warnings were put in place for
1260-597: The first "gigafire", burning over 1 million acres across seven counties, an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. The fires destroyed over 10,000 structures and cost over $ 12.079 billion (2020 USD ) in damages, including over $ 10 billion in property damage and $ 2.079 billion in fire suppression costs. The intensity of the fire season has been attributed to a combination of more than a century of poor forest management and higher temperatures resulting from climate change . On August 18, Governor Gavin Newsom declared
1302-539: The habitat of 50 species as well as 100 species that had 10% of their habitats burn. 5-14% of the species' habitats burned at a "high severity." The following is a list of fires that burned more than 1,000 acres (400 ha), or produced significant structural damage or casualties. Jenner, California Jenner , also known as Jenner-by-the-Sea , is a small coastal town and census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma County , California , United States, with
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1344-583: The high number of other fires burning throughout California at the time. Because of this, the fires were not suppressed during their most critical early phases, and by the evening of that day, the multiple conflagrations sizes were all ranging between 1,000 and 8,000 acres with 0% containment for each fire. By the morning of August 18, the complex of fires burning through much of the Napa County region collectively encompassed over 12,000 acres. By this time, only several hundred firefighters were actively engaging
1386-691: The increase in flammable tinder. Climate change increases the temperature of wildfires in California, the risk for drought, and potentially also the frequency of such events. David Romps, director of the Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center summarizes the situation as follows: "To cut to the chase: Were the heat wave and the lightning strikes and the dryness of the vegetation affected by global warming? Absolutely yes. Were they made significantly hotter, more numerous, and drier because of global warming? Yes, likely yes, and yes." Similarly, Friederike Otto , acting director of
1428-470: The intersection of Meyers Grade Road and Highway 1 throughout the day. Evacuations orders that initially were put in place for roads near the Hennessey Fire off of Hennessey Ridge Road and Highway 128 and along Chiles Pope Valley Road and Lower Chiles Valley Road began to expand for much of the surrounding Lake Berryessa area as the fire and multiple other conflagrations effectively exploded in size in that area. These mandatory evacuations were put in place for
1470-415: The moisture of the diminishing Tropical Storm Fausto . With these thunderstorms came a reported 10,849 lightning strikes that – within a 72-hour period – sparked 376 known fires across much of the state. Early on Monday, August 17, at around 6:40 am PDT a spot fire was reported burning in the 60 block of Hennessey Ridge Road near Lake Hennessey which was initially dubbed the 14-3 Fire but then later named
1512-462: The rural area in the hills between Healdsburg and Stewarts Point as the fire burned virtually unchecked. Those evacuations were then expanded to include areas east of Sewell Road and King Ridge Road; north of Old Cazadero Road and Austin Creek; west of East Austin Creek and Wal Bridge Ridge; and south of Stewarts Point Skaggs Springs Road --as well as Guerneville , Monte Rio and other areas north of
1554-400: The unusually dry months of January and February, one of the driest such periods of any calendar year on record. On March 22, a state of emergency was declared by California Governor Gavin Newsom due to a mass die-off of trees throughout the state, potentially increasing the risk of wildfires. However, throughout March and April, rain began to consistently fall in the state, which alleviated
1596-825: The wildfire season usually occurs between July and November when hot, dry winds are most frequent. The wildfire season typically does not end until the first significant rainstorm of autumn arrives, which is usually around October in Northern California , and early November in Southern California . As wildfire becomes more frequent, the wildland–urban interface has increasingly become more dangerous when it comes to property damage and risk to life. Scientists believe that, prior to development, California fires regularly burned significantly more acreage than has been seen in recent history. Wildfires have been aggressively suppressed in recent years, resulting in
1638-406: The winds fanned it westward, threatening the city of Oroville , triggering mass evacuations, and causing 16 fatalities. Governor Newsom's request for a federal disaster declaration for six major wildfires was approved on October 17 after having been rejected the previous day. Early in the year, there was a concern for the 2020 fire season to potentially be prolonged and especially grave, due to
1680-493: Was 1.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 35.7%. 67.6% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 32.4% lived in rental housing units. As of Census 2000, figures for Jenner's zip code showed that of the primary languages spoken in Jenner 94% spoke English while 6% did not; of those, 2% spoke French, 2% spoke Spanish, 1% spoke German, 1% spoke Urdu , and less than 1% spoke a Native American language. Jenner experiences
1722-463: Was a sign of what was to come in California, due to similar drought and weather conditions between Arizona and Northern California. The year 2020 was the largest wildfire year recorded in California history , according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection . From a historical perspective, the average annual acres burned prior to 1850 were probably significantly larger than years since reliable fire records began. Scott Stephens,
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1764-517: Was part of the Rancho Muniz . The town’s namesake, Dr. Elijah K. Jenner, was a dentist and inventor from Vermont. When his son Charles K. was born in 1846, the family was living in Wisconsin. Elijah came west in 1850 and sought his fortune in the California goldfields. Working as a miner, he designed a pump that could raise water one hundred feet (30 m) high. His patent application included
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