LNU Lightning Complex remains priority for resources; firefighters hold down daytime growth
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters held the LNU Lightning Complex to a smaller amount of daytime growth on Saturday as more resources arrived to assist the effort.
The complex was up to 325,128 acres on Saturday night, a growth of just under 11,000 acres during the course of the day, with containment remaining at 15 percent.
On Thursday and Friday, the complex had grown 84,000 and 83,000 acres, respectively, as Lake County News has reported.
The Hennessey fire, the portion of the complex burning in Lake, Napa, Solano and Yolo counties, has so far burned 271,714 acres and is 17-percent contained, Cal Fire said.
On the Sonoma County side of the fire, the Walbridge fire west of Healdsburg is up to 51,069 acres and the Meyers fire north of Jenner is at 2,345 acres. Cal Fire said there is no containment on either of those fires.
On Saturday evening, Cal Fire said the number of structures destroyed increased to 845, with damaged structures numbering 231. Another 30,500 remain threatened.
Cal Fire Sonoma Lake Napa Unit Chief Shana Jones said in a Saturday morning briefing that the LNU Lightning Complex remains the No. 1 priority in the state for resources that become available.
“Within an incident this size and complexity, and with all the fire activity throughout the state, all of our resources remain stretched to a capacity that we have not seen in recent history,” Jones said.
More resources are coming in from out of state to help fight the fires around California, but Jones said, “We are not out of the woods.”
A few hundred more firefighters and dozens of additional engines joined the fight on Saturday. Cal Fire said assigned resources included 1,704 personnel, 233 engines, 33 water tenders, 11 helicopters, 15 hand crews and 37 dozers.
The fire’s continued growth led to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office issuing a new evacuation order for areas near Lower Lake and an evacuation warning for areas north of Lower Lake to Highway 20, excluding the city of Clearlake.
An evacuation order for the Hidden Valley Lake and Jerusalem Valley areas remains in effect, as does an evacuation warning for the greater Middletown area, including Middletown proper.
As predicted on Saturday, the wind shifted and caused Lake County’s air basin to fill with smoke, making visibility challenging for firefighting forces, according to radio reports.
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