Sulphur fire containment reaches 90 percent; rest of Redwood fire evacuees allowed to return home
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The work of firefighters pushed fires in the Mendocino Lake Complex closer to full containment on Monday, with the remaining evacuees in Mendocino County allowed to return home.
Cal Fire said Monday that there was no new acreage growth on the Mendocino Lake Complex – which includes the Sulphur fire in Lake County and the Redwood fire in Mendocino County – and that containment continued to improve.
The overall complex is at 38,007 acres and 57-percent containment, Cal Fire said. That breaks down to 2,207 acres and 90-percent containment on the Sulphur fire and 35,800 acres and 55-percent containment on the Redwood fire.
Both fires began early on the morning of Oct. 9 during a fierce windstorm that battered Northern California. The cause of the fires remains under investigation.
Cal Fire said significant progress toward containment has continued throughout both fire areas. On Monday firefighters were moving forward on suppression repair while also continuing mop up.
Late on Monday afternoon firefighters responded in the Sulphur fire boundary to reports of areas that were smoldering or flaring up, based on radio reports.
In Mendocino County, the Redwood fire’s perimeter held as firefighters improved direct
fire line and continued mop up, Cal Fire said.
The situation in Mendocino County improved to the point where on Monday the remaining evacuation orders were lifted.
“Today was a good day. Today was a turning point for the county,” said Mendocino County Sheriff’ Tom Allman in a Monday afternoon briefing in which he was joined by officials from Lake County, the state and the federal government.
Allman said 8,000 evacuees were being allowed to go home or, in the case of those who lost residences, were able to return to see their properties.
No new destroyed structures were added to the complex’s standing count of 436, of which 136 were in the Sulphur fire, according to local officials.
As containment has risen, Cal Fire has begun to dial back resources on the complex. On Monday evening, the firefighter count was down to 2,096, with 119 engines, 26 water tenders, 10 helicopters, 61 crews and 32 dozers.
In other wildland fire news, the Central LNU Complex in Sonoma and Napa counties reached 101,403 acres on Monday, Cal Fire said.
That complex includes the Tubbs fire, 36,432, 75-percent contained; the Pocket fire, 12,430 acres, 45-percent contained; the Sonoma Nuns fire, 33,369 acres, and the Napa Nuns fire, 18,143 acres, with containment on those two fires at 53 percent; and the Oakmont fire, 1,029 acres and 16-percent contained.
The number of destroyed structures in that incident was raised to 4,078 on Monday, according to Cal Fire’s report.
The Southern LNU Complex in Napa and Solano counties was at 51,064 acres and 70-percent containment on Monday evening. Cal Fire said it has destroyed 360 structures.
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