At least 27 fires are raging across the state, including some caused by lightning from a rare summer thunderstorm Sunday.
By Doha Madani for NBC News
Coastal Northern California residents threatened by raging lightning-sparked fires were ordered to evacuate on Wednesday, authorities said, as flames continued to rage out of control.
A series of evacuation orders for residents across Santa Cruz County were issued by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) just before dawn, telling them to leave or take refuge at county fairgrounds in Watsonville, which is about 40 miles south of downtown San Jose.
Hours earlier, just before midnight, Cal Fire also ordered evacuations in neighboring San Mateo County, telling residents there to flee or hunker down at Pescadero High School which is about 40 miles south of San Francisco International Airport.
Those two counties are in the midst of five fires – dubbed the CZU August Lightning Complex – which have scorched at least 7,500 acres, prompting the evacuation orders.
This series of fires were sparked on Monday night and listed at zero-percent containment by Wednesday morning, Cal Fire said.
With all of the hillsides and tall trees that dominate this picturesque region of Northern California, some residents had no idea flames were rushing toward them.
Trudy Heirst, who lives near Butano State Park in San Mateo County, only spotted the fire as she was headed out of town.
“I said, ‘Wait a minute, that’s over by where I live,’ ” Heirst told NBC Bay Area. “We’re so deep in the redwoods that you can’t really see the smoke that much. You can see up but you can’t really see across.”
On Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in response to a series of wildfires that have aggravated a stifling heat wave. Read more from NBC News.
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