Central LNU Complex grows; fire still not believed to be in Lake County
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Firefighters continued to work steadily on the fires in neighboring Sonoma and Napa counties on Sunday, raising containment on the massive Central LNU Complex despite growth in its acreage.
Cal Fire’s Sunday night report put the complex at 106,272 acres, up by approximately 11,902 acres over the course of the day.
Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said Sunday that the death toll on the complex remained at 22.
The number of structures destroyed by the complex rose by nearly 500 on Sunday for a total of 3,947, Cal Fire said, with 24,914 structures remaining under threat.
The complex includes the Nuns fire, 48,627 acres, 40-percent contained; the Tubbs fire, 44,881 acres and 60-percent contained; the Pocket fire, 11,889 acres, 30-percent contained; and the Oakmont fire, 575 acres and 15-percent contained.
“Overall, things are feeling optimistic for us,” said Cal Fire Incident Commander Bret Gouvea said during a Sunday briefing.
At the same time, they’re remaining cautious, as Gouvea said there is still a lot of fire in Sonoma County, with different activity across the various fires.
He said there are positive developments on the Pocket, Tubbs and Nuns fires.
“They’re not going down easy but we’re getting them,” Gouvea said.
Much of the growth on the fires came on Sunday on the Tubbs fire, which along with the Pocket are close to the border of southern Lake County, as Lake County News has reported.
The overall complex acreage growth came mainly on the Tubbs fire, which grew by approximately 9,411 acres on Sunday, with its containment remaining unchanged during the day, according to Cal Fire’s report.
Cal Fire Operations Section Chief Steve Crawford said during the Sunday briefing on the complex that firefighters are getting “a lot of black on the map” when it came to the Tubbs fire, referring to the black line used on fire mapping to denote areas where the fire is no longer expanding and containment lines are strengthened.
Cal Fire said the fire remained most active on the northeastern portion around Red Hill and Mount Saint Helena.
The fire on Sunday had continued to make short uphill runs around to the north side of the peaks, officials said.
Because of the Tubbs fire portion of the complex, the Middletown area remained under an evacuation advisory on Sunday.
Radio traffic on the complex on Sunday indicated that air resources were continuing to be used heavily throughout the day in an attempt to contain the Tubbs fire’s growth.
By Sunday night, reports from the scene indicated that the fire was backing downhill on Mount Saint Helena and not making any more significant runs at that point. The fire also was keeping within fire retardant contingency lines.
Regarding concerns about the fire’s approach to Lake County, Cal Fire Division Chief Greg Bertelli told Lake County News Sunday night, “It should not be in Lake County yet.”
Local officials have remained optimistic that the fire is not posing an immediate threat to southern Lake County communities.
Supervisor Rob Brown said he visited the Tubbs fire site on Mount Saint Helena on Sunday with Bertelli and saw where the fire activity had been taking place on Saturday night and Sunday morning.
Brown said Cal Fire hit the fire hard with bulldozers and hand crews.
A fire retardant batch plant also has been set up at the base of the mountain, “And they’re literally pouring tons of retardant in that area to keep it from spreading,” Brown said.
The Pocket fire was up by 643 acres and saw a 5-percent increase in its containment at the end of the day on Sunday. Cal Fire said the Pocket fire is continuing to move toward the east.
“We’ve been making really good progress on that one,” said Crawford, explaining that a firing operation was conducted on the Pocket fire on Saturday and Sunday.
While the Nuns fire grew by 1,521 acres, containment increased by 15 percent, Cal Fire said. That fire is progressing to the north at a moderate rate of spread, driven by steep slopes and dry fuel.
The Oakmont fire grew by 25 acres, its containment also not changing on Sunday, according to the Cal Fire report.
Cal Fire said the Oakmont remained very active on Sunday, progressing in a northerly direction with a moderate rate of spread.
Gouvea said that he anticipated there would be a number of repopulation plans for evacuated areas in Sonoma County coming out in the next day.
Total resources working the complex on Sunday increased again, with 4,231 personnel, 470 engines, 50 water tenders, 33 helicopters, 10 air tankers, 80 hand crews and 86 dozers assigned, Cal Fire reported.
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