Mendocino Complex acreage continues to rise; fire crews focus efforts in the north
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Mendocino Complex continues to show little sign of slowing, as overnight it burned 8,000 more acres and pushed further into public lands to the north.
Cal Fire’s Monday report put the complex’s overall size at 344,890 acres with containment having rolled back a few percentage points to 68 percent. More than 3,200 firefighters – including some from Australia as well as active duty military firefighters – remain assisted to the incident.
The complex began on July 27 in Mendocino County. Within days it had moved into Lake County, where it has done most of the damage and burned most of its acreage. It also is burning in western Colusa County, and overnight the Ranch fire portion moved into the southwestern edge of Glenn County.
The River fire near Lakeport hasn’t grown in size in some time; it remains at 48,920 acres and 93 percent containment. Officials said patrolling and suppression repair continue in that area of the complex.
The story is different on the Ranch fire, which burned all of the additional 8,000 acres overnight to reach 295,970 acres. Cal Fire said the Ranch fire’s containment also slipped three percentage points, to 59 percent.
The damage assessment records 265 destroyed structures – 147 residences and 118 other buildings. In addition, 36 structures – 13 residents and 23 other buildings – have been damaged, Cal Fire said.
With minimal humidity recovery during nighttime operations the Ranch Fire was very active in its northwest corner, continuing to burn towards Lake Pillsbury. As the fire moves in this direction, fire crews in and around the surrounding areas of Lake Pillsbury are
preparing and defending structures, according to Cal Fire.
On the northeast side of the fire, Cal Fire said fire crews are still working on bringing the Ranch fire below and west of Lodoga Stonyford Road and back into the Mendocino National Forest. Dozer lines along with contingency dozer lines will continue to be put in and
improved.
The U.S. Forest Service is in joint command with Cal Fire on the incident. Mendocino National Forest spokeswoman Punky Moore said the Ranch fire grew 13,000 acres in the 24-hour period ending Monday morning; for perspective, the fire had grown by 6,000 acres in the previous 24-hour period.
Moore said that on Sunday, the fire crossed the dozer line along McLeod Ridge and moved toward Rice Fork summer homes and Lake Pillsbury. This area remains under a mandatory evacuation order.
She said firefighters worked through the night and held the fire along the Eel River. Firefighters burned off the dozer line along Gilmore Ridge and north through the 2012 Mill fire scar toward Davis Flat. The operation went well and the line is holding.
On Monday, fire crews are patrolling and providing structure defense in the Rice Fork homes and Pillsbury Lake areas and working to hold the fire at the Eel River.
Firefighters will hold and patrol the dozer line along Gilmore Ridge and north toward Davis Flat, which Moore said is to secure the fire’s northeast corner to keep the fire west of Stonyford and Century Ranch.
Construction of a contingency dozer line along Noel Springs Ridge and Bushy Camp Ridge will continue, as will work on constructing a contingency line west of Stonyford to Black Diamond Ridge, Moore said.
She said firefighters are improving the roads around the northern and western edges of the Pine Mountain Project to keep the fire east of Potter Valley. Crews will improve the contingency dozer line around Potter Valley.
Moore said there are many areas that the fire has burned through that are extremely important to many people; one example is Letts Lake. When it is safe to do so, these areas will be assessed and the information made available to the public.
For those impacted by the fire, a local assistance center is open in Lucerne through Friday, Aug. 17.
The center is located at Lucerne Alpine Senior Center, 3985 Country Club Drive. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The county of Lake reported that a wide array of services are available, with many organizations on site to offer help for everything from food replacement to medical care access, animal-related issues, debris removal, replacing vital documents and requesting assistance with insurance.
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