- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Glass fire expected to be fully contained in two weeks; August Complex scorches more acres
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Firefighters on Tuesday kept the Glass fire to its smallest one-day acreage gain so far, while the August Complex on public lands to the north added several thousand more acres after passing the one-million-acre mark on Monday.
Cal Fire said Tuesday night that the Glass fire was up to 67,050 acres, a growth of just 210 acres since Monday night, with containment up 13 percent to a total of 54-percent containment.
On Tuesday night, Cal Fire for the first time gave an estimated date of containment – Oct. 20 – for the Glass fire, which began on Sept. 27 in Napa and Sonoma counties.
Resources on the incident are now starting to be reduced. Personnel on Tuesday night totaled 2,522 – down by about 200 over the previous day – with 341 engines, 40 water tenders, 20 helicopters, 34 hand crews, 26 dozers and 15 masticators assigned, Cal Fire said.
Officials said 20,324 structures remain threatened by the fire, and evacuation warnings for two areas in Lake County, south of Middletown, remained in effect as of Tuesday night.
Highway 29 south of Middletown to Tubbs Lane in Napa County also remains closed, officials reported.
Updated damage assessment numbers show that Napa County has had 884 structures destroyed and 146 damaged by the fire, and in Sonoma County, 600 structures have been destroyed and 132 damaged.
Cal Fire said the rugged terrain in the northern portion of the Glass Fire continues to show fire activity, driven by steep slopes and heavy, dry fuels. Interior islands and smoldering, heavy fuels
remain active throughout the remainder of the fire area.
Aggressive mop-up and tactical patrol continue in areas where the fire’s forward progress has stopped. Heavy dead and down fuels continue to threaten the fire line, officials said.
Cal Fire said 16 firefighters on the Glass fire were evaluated Tuesday morning for a possible carbon monoxide exposure that occurred at a location off-site out of the fire area.
The firefighters were evaluated by Santa Rosa City Fire Department in conjunction with the medical staff assigned to the incident. One firefighter was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation and all others were released back to the fire line, officials said.
For road conditions in the fire area, see the following resources:
– Sonoma County: https://roadclosures-sonomacounty.hub.arcgis.com/ ;
– Napa County: www.countyofnapa.org/1032/Roads ;
– City of Santa Rosa: https://srcity.org/3063/Detours-and-Road-Closures ; and
– Caltrans: http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/.
August Complex continues growth
To the north, on the Mendocino, Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests, the August Complex on Tuesday continued to actively burn.
The fire, which was caused by lightning on Aug. 17, grew to a total of 1,006,140 acres as of Tuesday night, adding just over 2,700 acres over the previous 24 hours. Containment remains at 58 percent, the Forest Service reported.
Officials said approximately 2,376 personnel are assigned to the incident, which is being managed across several zones.
On the South Zone, which includes northern Lake County areas such as Lake Pillsbury, a new incident management team is set to arrive on Wednesday and take over operations.
The Forest Service estimates the August Complex will be fully contained on Nov. 15.
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