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SCU Lightning Complex fires
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<p>The SCU (Santa Clara Unit) Lightning Complex fires were <a href="/facts/Wildfire/LU3797A0">wildfires</a> that burned in the <a href="/facts/Diablo_Range/zaxjRxR7">Diablo Range</a> in California in August and September 2020 as part of the <a href="/facts/2020_California_wildfire_season/PgVkDvmW">2020 California wildfire season</a>. The fire complex consisted of fires in <a href="/facts/Santa_Clara_County%2c_California/0807EbzH">Santa Clara</a>, <a href="/facts/Alameda_County%2c_California/BL7wyMIr">Alameda</a>, <a href="/facts/Contra_Costa_County%2c_California/DJFNGFcF">Contra Costa</a>, <a href="/facts/San_Joaquin_County%2c_California/o9KVWtJ5">San Joaquin</a>, <a href="/facts/Merced_County%2c_California/1baxhpeI">Merced</a>, and <a href="/facts/Stanislaus_County%2c_California/UhBvxIBs">Stanislaus</a> counties. The name is derived from the three-letter designation given to the <a href="/facts/California_Department_of_Forestry_and_Fire_Protection/aJVASXh5">California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection</a> (Cal Fire) division responsible for the Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, and parts of San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties, and the complex consisted of several distinct fires occurring in this region. </p><p>The complex fire burned a total of 393,624 acres (159,294 ha) from August 16 to October 1, 2020, making it the fifth-largest overall wildfire recorded in California's modern history, surpassed only by the 2018 <a href="/facts/Mendocino_Complex_Fire/lp3vhynD">Mendocino Complex Fire</a>, the 2021 <a href="/facts/Dixie_Fire/MHK489Ns">Dixie Fire</a>, the 2024 <a href="/facts/Park_Fire/qvRHf9cs">Park Fire</a>, and the 2020 <a href="/facts/August_Complex_fire/2ltRjzPf">August Complex fire</a>. The SCU Complex was one of several fire complexes burning during August and September in California, most notably the <a href="/facts/LNU_Lightning_Complex_fires/LjeCJUtC">LNU</a>, <a href="/facts/CZU_Lightning_Complex_fires/809HwBRp">CZU</a>, and <a href="/facts/August_Complex_fire/2ltRjzPf">August</a> complexes. </p>