LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Smoke and haze in Lake County's skies in recent days are a product not just of a massive wildland fire burning in the county but a number of incidents farther north, according to officials.
In addition to the Rocky fire, which at 69,636 acres remains the state's largest wildland fire currently burning, the Lake County Air Quality Management District attributed much of the new smoke coming into the air basin over the last few days to several major fires burning farther north in California.
Cal Fire reported on Saturday that there were 17 active wildfires continue to burn in California.
However, the air quality management district pinpointed only a portion of the total number burning as having an impact locally.
Those include the lightning caused Humboldt Complex in Humboldt County. The group of 75 fires, which began July 30, had burned 4,608 acres and was 40-percent contained on Saturday night, according to Cal Fire.
There also are several lightning-caused complexes in Del Norte County that are sources of the smoke, the district said.
On July 30, lightning sparked the four fires in the River Complex, which has burned 13,827 acres and is 10-percent contained, as well as another four fires that make up the Route Complex, which has burned 16,798 acres and is 15-percent contained, according to the US Forest Service.
The Gasquet Complex, a group of nine lightning fires that began July 31, burned 1,702 acres with 5-percent containment as of Saturday, Cal Fire said.
There also is the Mad River Complex, which began Aug. 1. It's a group of three fires that has burned 17,852 acres, with 35-percent containment, the US Forest Service reported.
All of those incidents are contributing significant smoke to the air, which is blowing south and out over the ocean, according to the Lake County Air Quality Management District.
Cal Fire said that the threat of thunderstorms has passed, which is helping firefighters working on the incidents around the state while also relieving concerns about new blazes that lightning could set off.
However, the Lake County Air Quality Management District said westerly winds in the forecast – as high as 13 miles per hour in parts of the county on Monday – could continue to push significant amounts of smoke from the lightning complexes into Lake County's skies.
The air quality management district urged people to be prepared for changing conditions, as an increase in smoke could result in air quality in parts of the county dropping into the “unhealthy” range.
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.
Northern California lightning-caused wildland fires send smoke into Lake County air basin
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On