Weather

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued a spare the air alert for the 16th day in a row, breaking the old record of 14 days set back in 2018 during the Camp Fire.

As late summer fires raged and continue to burn across the Bay Area, many affected counties have implemented evacuation orders and safety alerts. KTVU has compiled up-to-date information from Cal Fire to keep you informed.

Experts say the frequency of so-called mega-fires, such as the multiple complex fires burning around the Bay Area, will grow during the next decade, fueled in part by global warming.

The firefighter was killed in Mendocino National Forest where a wildfire that started on Aug. 17 was 20% contained, according to a statement from the U.S. Forest Service.

Tuesday marks 15 consecutive days of Spare the Air alerts for the Bay Area, as wildfires burning across the region.

"We have a number of guard crews that have been on year-round and have been trained and divvied out to specific units of Cal Fire to do fuel mitigation work and reduce the fuels," Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mark Brunton said during a Monday morning update on Twitter. 

Crews working on a fire complex — a group of blazes — in wine country had contained 56% of it by Sunday, up from 42% a day earlier.

The fires have claimed 84,600 acres since being ignited by lightning strikes on Aug. 16, destroying 755 residences and damaging 84.

The air district has issued a long string of the alerts, which ban the burning of wood and other solid fuel both indoors and outdoors, after lightning strikes sparked wildfires around the Bay Area two weekends ago.

One downgraded evacuation zone is north of Mill Creek Road, west of Dry Creek (the actual creek) and Westside Road, south of Chemise Road and east of the burn area.