California Fires Map Tracker

Here are the major wildfires burning across Northern California. See our complete coverage on the fires »

L.N.U. Lightning Complex

This group of fires north of San Francisco had consumed 371,249 acres as of Friday, making it the third-largest blaze in California history. The fires stretched across Napa and four surrounding counties and have grown rapidly.

The L.N.U. complex had destroyed at least 1,080 homes and other buildings, many of them in Vacaville, as of Friday and was responsible for at least five deaths as well as four injuries, according to Cal Fire, the state’s fire agency. Firefighters said the L.N.U. complex was 35 percent contained going into the weekend.

S.C.U. Lightning Complex

East of Silicon Valley, the S.C.U. Lightning Complex had spread across 372,971 acres by Friday — largely in less populous areas — and was also 35 percent contained. This fire was the second-largest in state history, although the S.C.U. and L.N.U. complexes are so close in size that they frequently trade the rankings of second-largest and third-largest.

The S.C.U. fire had destroyed 28 structures and injured two civilians and three emergency workers by Friday. It began as about 20 separate fires, all most likely ignited by lightning, that have since merged into one, Cal Fire said.

C.Z.U. August Lightning Complex

This combination of fires forced tens of thousands of people in San Mateo and Santa Cruz Counties to evacuate during the first week that it was burning, in mid-August, including the entire campus of the University of California, Santa Cruz. By Friday, it had destroyed at least 554 homes, 55 businesses and 189 smaller buildings, mostly in Santa Cruz County.

This fire complex had burned across 82,540 acres as of Friday, and was 26 percent contained. A 73-year-old man died in the fire in Santa Cruz County, and the blaze has also devastated California’s oldest state park, the Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

River Fire

The River Fire, south of Salinas in Monterey County, had burned 48,732 acres as of Friday, destroying 30 structures and injuring four people. Firefighters made significant progress since it began burning in mid-August, and it was about two-thirds contained by Friday.

It has forced more than 5,000 evacuations, according to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.

August Complex

This complex began with 37 fires most likely started by lightning in the Mendocino National Forest, north of Santa Rosa, many of which combined. In all, the complex had burned across 212,010 acres as of Friday, making it the 11th-largest fire in California fire history.

The fire by then was 17 percent contained, and, like many of the fires, continued to release smoke, affecting the air quality in other parts of Northern California.