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Here's an eye-popping comparison.
The CZU Lightning Complex has destroyed more homes in Santa Cruz County than the damaging Loma Prieta Earthquake.
Jeffrey Wood lives near Loma Prieta Peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains, almost at the epicenter of the infamous 1989 earthquake.
"I was here with my daughter when the big one hit," Wood told KCBS Radio. "It knocked me down, it knocked my telescope over, it knocked my keyboard over and television over. It (was) very powerful."
The 6.9 magnitude shaker knocked nine buildings off their foundations on his road alone. Just over 1,000 homes were destroyed. Now, over 30 years later, CAL FIRE said this combination of lightning-sparked fires has burned 1,431 structures in Santa Cruz County.
By that measure, it’s a more damaging natural disaster.
Wood said while the quake in 1989 was dramatic, wildfires are far scarier.
"If you’ve got the fuel and the oxygen and the wind and you have the right elements for a fire, it’s virtually unstoppable," Wood said.