NORTH COAST, Calif. – There was another gain in acreage on Thursday for the wildland fire complex burning in northern Mendocino County.
The North Pass Fires grew to 18,500 acres by Thursday evening, with containment at 10 percent, according to Cal Fire and the US Forest Service, which have unified command due to the fires burning into the Mendocino National Forest.
The fires, burning in the Williams Valley area 10 miles northeast of Covelo, started early Saturday morning as a result of lightning strikes.
Two outbuildings have so far been destroyed, and incident command said another 75 residences, five commercial properties and 80 outbuildings remained under threat.
As a result, mandatory evacuations remained in effect for areas on Indian Dick Road and Mendocino Pass Road near Covelo, the Bauer Ranch subdivision and nearby US Forest Service campsites.
Approximately 1,096 personnel were assigned to the fire on Thursday evening, with 96 engines, 26 fire crews, two airtankers, six helicopters, 34 bulldozers and 21 water tenders on scene, incident command reported.
Elsewhere in the state massive wildland fires continued to burn on Thursday night.
The Ponderosa Fire, burning southeast of Manton in Tehama and Shasta counties, has so far burned 27,978 acres with 61 percent containment, while the Chips Fire in Plumas County has burned 63,147 acres and is 40-percent contained.
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