August Complex tops 261,000 acres; Army sends troops to join firefighting effort
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Two hundred soldiers are preparing to join the effort to contain the August Complex of lightning fires on the Mendocino National Forest.
The August Complex was up to 261,204 acres on Wednesday, a growth of about 19,000 acres over the previous day, with containment remaining at 20 percent and 700 personnel assigned, according to the US Forest Service.
The complex’s main fires include the Doe/Glade fire, 223,310 acres, 23-percent contained; the Tatham, 15,594 acres, nine-percent contained; and the Hull, 13,177 acres, 10-percent contained.
The largest portion of the complex, which began Aug. 17, has burned on the Grindstone Ranger District in Glenn and Tehama counties.
The Hull fire is burning in northern Lake County on the Upper Lake Ranger District north of Lake Pillsbury and also has crossed into Mendocino County. That fire resulted in an evacuation warning that’s still in effect for the Pillsbury Ranch community.
Over the weekend, the Hull fire and the Doe fire burned together, officials said.
“So far, we’ve been making very good progress,” Dean Gould, forest supervisor for the Sierra National Forest and agency administrator for the August Complex, said during a Wednesday virtual community meeting, which can be seen in the video above.
He said they have been able to get some aircraft on the complex, which has helped improve the situation.
In the two and a half weeks the complex has been burning so far, Gould said the firefighting effort has cost $10.5 million.
On Monday, one firefighter was killed and another injured while working on the Tatham fire portion of the complex, as Lake County News has reported.
During the community meeting, Gould did not offer any new information on the vehicle crash.
He said an investigation is underway and information will be released once it is complete.
He also reported that more than 200 Army soldiers from the 14th Brigade Engineer Battalion from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, had arrived to assist on the complex and will be going operational on Thursday.
The US Forest Service reported that the soldiers arrived on Monday night and have been learning firefighting tactics on the ground in preparation.
Operations Section Chief Jon Wallace of the Southern Area Blue Team Incident Team said during the community meeting that all of the complex’s major fires have burned into the largest fire, the Doe.
Wallace said the operations south of Lake Pillsbury have gone very well, with the area burned out and the active fire within the containment lines. He said patrolling and mop up are underway.
Wallace said Cal Fire has been a key partner for the Forest Service in the fire suppression effort.
“Cal Fire has been helping us out tremendously on this fire with the full gamut of their personnel and equipment,” Wallace said, adding they wouldn’t be where they were without Cal Fire’s help.
Gould reported that the Southern Area Blue Team Incident Team, which has been overseeing the complex since Aug. 27, has had its assignment on the complex extended to Sept. 11, at which point another incident management team will transition into the leadership.
On Aug. 29, a forest closure was issued for the fire area and Gould said a revised forest order is due to come out over the next few days, which will open a good portion of the Snow Mountain Wilderness.
“We are doing our very best to open areas up just as quickly as we can, in a safe manner,” Gould said, adding that there will be more revised orders coming out on a periodic basis.
For those needing access to private property, Gould encouraged them to stop by their district forest office so staff can make sure the property owners have the right documentation and law enforcement officials working on the incident can be made aware of planned visits.
For general questions about the August Complex, people are invited to email the incident management team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 530-487-4602.
Information about the fire also is posted on Inciweb and on the forest’s Facebook page and website.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.