NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – One firefighter has died and another was injured while working on the August Complex in the Mendocino National Forest.
Late Monday night, the US Forest Service confirmed the death of the firefighter in an incident that occurred earlier in the day.
A second firefighter is receiving medical attention, the Forest Service said.
Additional details – including information about where on the forest the incident had occurred – were not immediately available, according to Forest Service spokesman Michael R. Williams.
“We are still gathering details and will release additional information as it becomes available,” Williams told Lake County News.
The complex, burning since Aug. 17 in remote portions of the forest, grew to 236,288 acres on Monday afternoon, with containment at 20 percent.
The largest fires in the complex, primarily on the Grindstone Ranger District portion of the forest, include the Doe, 177,536 acres, 59 percent contained; the Glade, 25,358 acres, 0 percent contained; and the Tatham, 14,457 acres, 9 percent contained, the Forest Service reported.
On the Upper Lake Ranger District, the Hull fire north of Lake Pillsbury was at 11,109 acres and 10 percent contained on Monday, the Forest Service reported. Over the weekend officials said the Hull and the Doe actually burned together in the area of Rattlesnake Creek.
More than 670 firefighters were assigned to the incident on Monday, with officials reporting that 200 military personnel also are due to arrive this week to assist the firefighting effort.
Forest officials had reported over the weekend that crews are working in very rugged and steep terrain, some of it too difficult for even hotshot teams to get into safety.
Just two years ago, the Ranch fire portion of the 459,123-acre Mendocino Complex left a large fire scar in the Mendocino National Forest.
Katy Hooper, a spokesperson for the August Complex’s management team, said crews are working in the area of the old Ranch fire scar, using established fire line and fuel breaks to slow the August Complex.
Like the August Complex, the Ranch fire resulted in the death of a firefighter. Battalion Chief Matthew Burchett of the Draper City Fire Department in Utah died Aug. 13, 2018, when he was hit by a falling tree.
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One firefighter killed, one injured on August Complex
- Elizabeth Larson
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