The two largest fires in California grew slightly overnight, Cal Fire said, although firefighters have managed to contain the same proportion of each blaze.

The SCU Lightning Complex, already the second biggest fire in California’s history, is now 363,772 acres, Cal Fire said, up around 3,000 acres since Monday night. The fire, south-east of San Francisco, is 15% controlled.

The LNU Lightning Complex, north of San Francisco, has grown to around 352,913 acres since Monday. Firefighters have now contained 27% of the fire, compared to 25% yesterday.

The fires in California pose a real threat to some of the state’s rare ecosystems and wildlife – including redwood trees and the endangered California condors.

“Biologists are watching closely as the blazes encroach on old-growth redwood trees in Northern and Central California, where some giants are more than 1,000 years old and are known by individual names,” NPR reports:

While some seem to have been spared, Big Basin State Park — the oldest state park in California — saw significant fire damage.

Still, biologists say there are reasons to be hopeful, because redwoods have incredibly thick bark that can withstand wildfires. Even fully charred trees can sprout again.

[…]

For the endangered California condors, recovery is still tenuous. In 1987, just 27 birds remained. Scientists brought them into captivity to begin a breeding program. Today, there are about 100 condors free-flying on California’s Central Coast.

Firefighters expect to see success in the coming days in tackling the CZU Lightning Complex, near Santa Cruz, officials said this morning.

In a press conference IMT 3 operations section chief Mark Brenton said:

“We had success yesterday and the day before to a point, [and] we’re going to see for the next few days that same success.

“The weather’s going to start changing towards the end of the week, we’re preparing for that, we’re adjusting for that, but I think we have a very good plan.”

Jonathan Cox, deputy chief of Cal Fire San Mateo division, said that as of 6am PT the CZU Lightning Complex spanned 78,869 acres.

“The good news is we continue to make progress on containment, and we’re up to 17% containment this morning,” Cox said.

He said 330 structures have been destroyed by the fire, and another 25,000 structures are threatened. Cox said 1,611 personnel are assigned to the fire.