Overview

• On Sept. 9, 2020, smoke from Northern California wildfires turned Bay Area skies a deep orange and made midday resemble night.
• KRON4’s Lawrence Karnow said offshore winds from the northeast pushed the smoke long distances into the Bay Area.
• The August Complex, ignited by lightning, burned more than 1 million acres across seven counties and ranked as California’s largest fire at the time.
• Air quality stayed unhealthy after the event and took nearly a week to return to safer levels.
• Photos and videos widely documented the scenes as pandemic-era commuters kept their headlights on.