UPDATE: Situation Improving With Deer Zone Fires Off Marsh Creek Rd.

Firefighters in Contra Costa County hope a combination of the right kind of winds and increasing humidity will help with efforts to contain a series of wildland fires southwest of Brentwood.

Erica Bain, a spokeswoman for Cal Fire, said there was “minimal fire activity” overnight into Wednesday associated with the four blazes that make up the Deer Zone fires.

“They’re actually looking pretty good out there, better than other areas,” Bain said.

The fires have currently burned about 3,000 acres, according to the East Contra Costa County Fire Protection District.

Cal Fire is grouping the Deer Zone fires are part of a larger cluster of fires Cal Fire calls the “SCU Lightning Complex,” which also includes six fires burning in the “Calaveras Zone” in Alameda, Santa Clara and Stanislaus counties east of Fremont and San Jose; and the “Canyon Zone,” four separate fires in Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties.

As of Wednesday morning, the 20 separate fires in the SCU Lightning Complex had burned more than 85,000 acres, with 5 percent containment. And in contrast to the Deer Zone fires, the situation in other areas was getting worse.

Much of the territory burning has not experienced large fires in recent years, Cal Fire said, and accumulated fuels have exacerbated a situation already made challenging by hard-to-access terrain, high temperatures and low humidity.

Almost 600 firefighters were working on the SCU Lightning Complex fires as of early Wednesday morning, Cal Fire said.

The Deer Zone fires in Contra Costa started in the early morning hours Sunday, ignited during the rash of dry-lightning strikes that hit the region.

Mandatory evacuations were called affecting residents along Marsh Creek Road from Morgan Territory Road to the Round Valley Regional Preserve parking lot (six miles) between Brentwood and Clayton, and
on the length of Morgan Territory Road from Marsh Creek Road south to the Alameda County line.

Those evacuations remain in effect Wednesday morning, Bain said, but will be re-evaluated later in the day, especially if the expected improvements in fire conditions come to pass.

photo credit: firebomber68 photography – Dan Dinneen

UPDATE: All evacuation orders have been lifted for Morgan Territory and Marsh Creek Rd.