Firefighters on Monday were battling a collection of fires, named the Deer Zone Fire, burning in Contra Costa County, where mandatory evacuations have been ordered.
As of 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, the flames consumed more than 1,450 acres in the Round Valley area off Marsh Creek Road, and evacuations are in order for Marsh Creek Road and Morgan Territory Road in Brentwood. There is 0% containment of the blaze, Cal Fire said Monday morning.
An evacuation center has been set up at the Clayton Library at 6125 Clayton Rd.
Firefighters made their way into the hills around 2 p.m., with smoke in the sky. People stopped along Deer Valley Road to get a closer look after a long night.
“I saw the lightning strikes and I go out to look and all of a sudden the thunder just went ‘boom’ in my house and was rattling my house,” said Noah Engineer from Clayton.
Some residents say it was scary, but quite “amazing.”
“Since we started first thing this morning, we probably had I’d say about 6 different fires all as a result of lightning,” said Steve Aubert with the East Contra Costa Fire Protection District, who’s been working near Round Valley Regional Preserve in a joint effort.
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“They have a couple different fires. A few are starting to come under containment. We still have one large one in the middle of the park.”
In rural areas, those closest to it were urged to be prepared. But just about everyone in the Bay Area, saw the spectacular and dangerous show.
“The lightning strikes were all over the place,” said Engineer.
