Over 336K Acres Consumed by CA's Largest Wildfire
By Trisha Thadani and Sarah Ravani
Source San Francisco Chronicle
Firefighters reported progress Sunday in their battles against blazes across the state, increasing containment on the largest wildfire in state history.
The Mendocino Complex fires, made up of the River and Ranch fires, consumed about 8,000 more acres Sunday. That was less growth than the additional 12,000 acres that were scorched Saturday. Officials at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection don’t expect to completely contain the blaze until Sept. 1.
The Mendocino fires have burned 336,399 acres and are 70 percent contained. The larger of the two, the Ranch Fire, was responsible for all of the growth, burning 8,096 acres for a total of 287,479 acres. That made the Ranch Fire the largest blaze in state history, surpassing last year’s Thomas Fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. The Ranch blaze was 62 percent contained Sunday.
“The biggest concerns are on the Ranch Fire, which we still have active fire burning in the northern portion of the fire,” said Cary Wright, a public information officer for the Mendocino Complex. “It’s very rugged terrain, mountainous, very thick, dense forest area, but they’ve been working on those areas for the last few days.”
Firefighters worked Sunday to prevent the fire from entering the Potter Valley and Stonyford communities, he added.
A northern wind created a thick smoke layer that could be seen in Ukiah, Wright said, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing for the firefight.
“That wind coming from the north is actually helping firefighters because it’s blowing back into the fire,” he said. “It should help ground resources.”
Over the next few days, the objective will be to keep the blaze within the Mendocino National Forest, where homes and lives aren’t at stake, Wright said.
Depending on the forecast for the week, bulldozer operators are expected to be sent to the ridges surrounding the fire perimeter to establish contingency lines and build “a box around the fire.”
“We don’t want the fire to get beyond this box so then our tactical efforts are going to be going in there,” Wright said, adding that they will then use aircraft and firefighters on the ground equipped with engines.
Meanwhile, firefighters were able to keep the River Fire from growing overnight, holding it at 48,920 acres and 93 percent containment.
In all, the Mendocino Complex — which has burned for 17 days — has destroyed 264 structures, 146 of them residences, and still threatens 1,025 structures, according to Cal Fire. The Agency lifted a mandatory evacuation order for all areas south of Mendocino National Forest in Lake County on Friday evening. Some evacuation orders also were lifted in Colusa County this weekend.
A mandatory evacuation was ordered for areas near Lake Pillsbury, north of Highway 20, east of the Lake-Mendocino county line, south of the Lake-Mendocino County line and west of the Lake-Glenn County line.
A total of 3,172 personnel were working to battle the Mendocino Complex. There were 281 fire engines, 87 water tenders, 20 helicopters, 61 hand crews and 76 bulldozers.
In Shasta County, the Carr Fire grew to 201,680 acres by Sunday evening and was 61 percent contained. The gain is a modest increase compared with other days, as firefighters continued to improve containment lines by setting their own fires to deplete vegetation that the blaze could consume. Firefighters reported tough challenges from densely forested and steep terrain.
About 1,077 homes, 22 commercial buildings and 500 other structures have been destroyed in the fire. Cal Fire officials do not know when they expect to fully contain the blaze, which has claimed eight lives since it began last month.
Crews also advanced toward fully containing the Ferguson Fire near Yosemite. The blaze has burned 95,947 acres and was 83 percent contained by Sunday, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Meanwhile in Southern California, the Holy Fire in Riverside and Orange counties grew slightly by 583 acres to 22,714 acres and was 51 percent contained, according to Cleveland National Forest officials.
Trisha Thadani and Sarah Ravani are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: [email protected], [email protected] Twitter: @TrishaThadani, @SarRavani
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