Wildfires

Firefighters continue to battle a 143-acre vegetation fire in San Jose Friday. The fire is 50% contained, officials said. 

"We have fires burning in areas that may haven ever burned at all," Cal Fire's Unit Chief Ian Larkin said. 

The good news is that only five structures had been damaged and no one has died, though nearly 20,000 structures remained threatened and were in harm's way, Cal Fire said. 

The school year should look and sound much different than it does this year for the Benicia High Panthers Marching Band. School should be back in session, and band members should be tuning up for the school year.

There are now a half dozen evacuation centers, just for people fleeing the CZU Lightning Complex fire.

As of the latest update, CalFire said the fire had consumed more than 215,000 acres; nearly 500 structures have been destroyed and another 125 were damaged.

Here are some organizations committed to providing relief and assistance to people and communities hurt by the wildfires around the state.

Video from the Fairfield Fire Department shows fire crews making their initial attack on the wildfire burning near Vacaville in Napa County. 

Evacuees who can't care for their animals during the crisis can drop them off at the shelter at 1001 Rodriguez St. in Santa Cruz between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

A dog trainer and rancher from Solano County who said she has lived through 14 fires lost dozens of horses and baby goats in the LNU Lightning Complex Fire, one of the largest wildfires burning in California.

Some fires burning in that area were eating up the earth as fast as 1,000 acres an hour. 

Footage taken by a Twitter user named @PocketNihilist  showed the hazy and smoky conditions, as farm workers were worked near a farm plow. 

The CZU August Lightning Fire has consumed more than 48,000 acres, causing nearly 50,000 people to evacuate.

More than 22,000 residents have already been told to leave their homes because of the CZU August Lightning Complex Fire, named after the Cal Fire San Mateo-Santa Cruz unit fighting the blaze.

Along the collection of canyons called Blue Ridge in an unincorporated area near Vacaville, an estimated two dozen homes are now reduced to ash and debris.

Known as the LNU Lightning Complex Fire, the biggest blaze of the group is the Hennessey Fire burning in Napa County. That particular fire has burned 105,000 acres and is  0% contained.

The raging fire damaged the park’s headquarters, historic core and campgrounds, the park district said. As of Thursday, the fire, spanning Santa Cruz and San Mateo Counties, had scorched 40,000 acres. 

Smoke filled the skies across the Bay Area, including in Marin County, where firefighters were battling The Woodward Fire, fueled by fierce winds.