Czu Lightning Complex

Wildfire in Santa Cruz and San Mateo counties, August 2020

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Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/8121/czu-lightning-complex-2020

Key facts

Started August 16, 2020
Contained September 24, 2020, after 39 days
Burned 86,554 acres
11th largest fire of 2020 and 64th largest in California's records
Cause Lightning
Buildings 1,490 destroyed, 140 damaged
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Where it burned

Counties

  1. Santa Cruz County 63,746 acres
  2. San Mateo County 22,832 acres

Communities

  1. Bonny Doon 5,034 acres
  2. Boulder Creek 1,960 acres
  3. Ben Lomond 1,013 acres
  4. Brookdale 1,006 acres
  5. Loma Mar 734 acres
  6. Felton 479 acres
  7. Davenport 31 acres

Acres are the land the fire burned in each county and community, and places where it burned less than an acre are not listed. Communities are cities, towns and the unincorporated places the Census Bureau names, so land outside any of them is counted only in its county.

Buildings damaged

  1. Destroyed Over 50% damaged 1,490
  2. Major damage 25 to 50% damaged 11
  3. Minor damage 10 to 25% damaged 24
  4. Affected Up to 10% damaged 105

Buildings CAL FIRE inspected after the fire, by how badly each was damaged. Inspectors record homes, businesses and outbuildings within 100 meters of the fire, and cannot always reach every one, so the counts can differ slightly from other reports.

The same land, other fires

Burned before

  1. 1962 Lincoln Hill Fire 3,209 acres shared
  2. 1962 Hanna Prop. (Butano) Fire 242 acres shared
  3. 1980 Big Basin #7 Fire 378 acres shared
  4. 2008 Martin Fire 483 acres in total · Cause: Campfire 217 acres shared
  5. 2009 Lockheed Fire 7,783 acres in total 7,687 acres shared

Burned again

  1. 2021 Butano Fire Cause: Lightning 169 acres shared
  2. 2021 China Fire Cause: Miscellaneous 22 acres shared
  3. 2021 Bonny Complex Cause: Miscellaneous 20 acres shared
  4. 2021 Bloom Fire Cause: Miscellaneous 9 acres shared

Acres are the land each fire shares with the Czu Lightning Complex, and fires that shared less than an acre are not counted. Some older or smaller fires may be missing, and a fire perimeter can include unburned patches. How to read fire history

Sources

Fire history
CAL FIRE Fire and Resource Assessment Program
Published 28 July 2026
Building damage
CAL FIRE Damage Inspection
Updated 19 October 2026

This site is independent and not affiliated with CAL FIRE or the CPUC, so for an official determination, check with the agency or your city or county. How we read the data