LNU Lightning Complex nearly triples in size; Lake County evacuations remain in place
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Wednesday the LNU Lightning Complex nearly tripled in size, continuing to burn across Lake, Napa and Sonoma counties, threatening homes and prompting evacuations, while other fires across the region also continued to grow.
Cal Fire said the complex reached 124,100 acres on Wednesday evening, with no containment.
It is threatening 25,000 structures. Cal Fire said the complex has so far destroyed 105 structures and damaged 70 others.
The portion of the complex impacting Lake County is the Morgan fire, at 3,500 acres and zero-percent containment on Wednesday night.
That fire had burned to the Lake-Napa County line by Tuesday afternoon, prompting an initial round of evacuations in the county’s southeast corner. By Wednesday morning it was confirmed to be well within Lake County’s boundaries.
Later on Wednesday, more evacuations were called for Hidden Valley Lake and the Jerusalem Valley area. Reports from the scene stated that authorities closed southbound Highway 29 in order to allow both lanes of the highway to be driven north by evacuees.
Deputies and firefighters spent hours going house to house, notifying residents of the need to evacuate, according to radio traffic.
Sheriff Brian Martin reported that firefighting resources are in short supply. On Wednesday night, assigned personnel totaled 587 – a fraction what other large incidents have had assigned over the course of recent years – with 71 engines, 27 water tenders, six helicopters, nine hand crews and 28 dozers.
Because of so many fires around the state, Cal Fire said its resources have been stretched thin.
Adding to the difficulties for firefighters, the National Weather Service has placed much of Northern California – including Lake County – under a red flag warning until Thursday morning due to weather and fire conditions.
The complex and some other major fires locally and around the region have been attributed to what Cal Fire officials on Wednesday morning called a “historic lightning siege” that had occurred during the previous 72 hours.
Cal Fire said 10,849 lightning strikes across the state during that time frame caused more than 367 new fires, with 6,900 firefighting personnel assigned to those incidents.
With firefighter resources depleted, Cal Fire said the state of California is asking for 375 additional engines and more hand crews from out of state.
Fires burning in Glenn, Mendocino counties
Elsewhere around the region, in Glenn County, the August Complex of 35 lightning-caused fires in the Mendocino National Forest had ballooned overnight from 3,000 to 30,000 acres, as Lake County News has reported.
By Wednesday evening, the fire had more than doubled to 65,030 acres, the US Forest Service reported.
New fires were reported in Glenn County on Wednesday, including the Ivory fire near Elk Creek, which by early afternoon had burned 400 acres with no containment, and the 4-8 fire west of Willows, which was 90-percent contained at 250 acres. The causes of these fires are under investigation.
In Mendocino County, the Creek fire – located four miles northeast of Covelo – has burned 800 acres with 60-percent containment as of Wednesday evening, with two outbuildings destroyed and eight other structures threatened, according to Cal Fire’s Mendocino Unit.
Cal Fire said firefighters worked overnight and stopped the Creek fire’s progress, with evacuation orders lifted earlier Wednesday but evacuation warnings remaining in place.
Also in Mendocino County, the 3-19 incident east of Potter Valley remained at 62 acres on Wednesday evening, with containment up to 50 percent. Cal Fire said forward progress on that incident also has been stopped.
In Redwood Valley, Cal Fire said forward progress had been stopped on the 12-acre Red fire, with 20 percent containment.
The causes of the fires in Mendocino County are reported to be under investigation and in reports from Cal Fire haven’t been specifically linked to lightning.
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