- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Glass fire reaches 70-percent containment; air resources work on August Complex
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Firefighters held the Glass fire to just over 60 acres of growth on Thursday while air resources have been at work on the August Complex’s South Zone.
Cal Fires said the Glass fire was up to 67,484 acres on Thursday night, an increase of just 64 acres over the previous night, with containment up to 70 percent, an increase of 8 percent.
The fire has been burning since Sept. 27 in Napa and Sonoma counties. It’s anticipated to be fully contained on Oct. 20.
As more evacuation orders were lifted in the fire area on Thursday, the number of threatened structures was reduced by nearly 10,000 to a total of 3,480 by nightfall, according to Cal Fire’s report.
Cal Fire said fire activity on Thursday was limited to smoldering, heavy fuels and interior islands with isolated heat signatures. These conditions consisted of creeping and smoldering within the current fire perimeter.
Assigned resources continued to be dialed back as the fire moves toward full containment. Cal Fire said that, as of Thursday night, resources assigned included 1,963 personnel, 251 engines, 23 water tenders, 14 helicopters, 32 hand crews, 11 dozers and two masticators.
New team taking over August Complex South Zone management
The state’s largest fire, the August Complex, rose to 1,020,571 acres and 65 percent containment on Thursday night, Cal Fire reported.
Sparked by lightning on Aug. 17, it’s burning on the Mendocino, Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests.
Officials said 4,799 personnel are assigned.
The Forest Service said that on Wednesday, crews worked diligently to construct line around
a 300-acre slop-over northeast of Lake Pillsbury, over the M6 Road near Bloody Rock.
Heat was captured by infrared data late in the night with direct suppression tactics starting after detection in the early morning hours yesterday. Officials said aviation resources were used to restrict the fire’s progression and cool down the fire, to help ground crews safely work in the area.
Helitack crews and helicopters are working in the Snow Mountain Wilderness to contain the fire’s progression, officials said.
As new resources are redirected to the South Zone to aid in firefighting efforts, there will be a significant increase in road traffic in fire-affected areas, especially on Elk Mountain Road, as crews and equipment travel to new locations, the Forest Service said.
The other areas of the South Zone remain in patrol status with engines and water tenders monitoring those lines. Through it all, the No. 1 priority always remains firefighter and public safety, the Forest Service said.
The Southwest Incident Management Team 1 arrived at the incident Wednesday and will assume command of the August Complex South Zone at 7 a.m. Friday.
Burned Area Emergency Response, or BAER, specialists from the U.S. Forest Service recently completed their data gathering and fieldwork of the August Complex fire burn area.
Their focus was to verify and finalize the soil burn severity map. Soil burn severity is classified into levels between unburned and high, the Forest Service said.
The Forest Service said BAER team members will now use the soil burn severity data to identify if there are areas or features of concern where increased soil erosion, accelerated surface water run-off, and debris flows have the potential to impact human life and safety, property, and critical natural and cultural resources from rain events.
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