Deer Zone fires burn 1,450 acres with no containment in sight

The Deer Zone Fire complex on the northeast side of Mount Diablo in rural Contra Costa County had burned more than 1,450 acres by Tuesday morning, and remained at zero percent containment, a Cal Fire spokesman said.

Evacuations ordered late Sunday along Marsh Creek and Morgan Territory Roads remain in effect Tuesday morning, he added.

As have been most of the vegetation fires still burning on Tuesday in the Bay Area and north central California, the group of four fires comprising the Deer Complex were sparked early Sunday morning by lightning. The evacuations were ordered at about 9:20 p.m. Sunday after what firefighters said was a “change in behavior” of the fire.

Those mandatory evacuations directly affect people who live along the length of Morgan Territory Road south to the Alameda County line and along Marsh Creek Road from Bragdon Way east to the Round Valley Regional Preserve parking lot, approximately 6 miles.

Among these homes are those in the Clayton Palms mobile home community off of Marsh Creek Road about three miles southwest of Brentwood.

No structures have been damaged by these fires as of Tuesday morning, Cal Fire officials said.

On Tuesday, Marsh Creek Road remains closed from Morgan Territory Road east of Clayton to Deer Valley Road south of Antioch, about 5 miles.

A Cal Fire spokesman said Tuesday that in rural Contra Costa County, as elsewhere in the region, a combination of high temperatures, inaccessible terrain and “dangerous rate of spread” are making fighting the fires especially difficult.

Cal Fire is now including the Deer Zone fires in a larger grouping of fires, collectively called 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.

Cal Fire reports that the SCU Lightning Complex fires have collectively burned 25,000 acres and are zero percent contained as of 9:41 a.m. Tuesday.

A Cal Fire spokesman couldn’t say Tuesday how many firefighters are working on the Deer Complex fires specifically, but said that a total of 522 firefighters were working on the SCU Lightning Complex fires.