- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Firefighters increase containment on Mendocino Complex; two mandatory evacuation orders lifted
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Fire officials on Thursday evening said containment is up and more evacuation orders have been lifted on the Ranch fire portion of the Mendocino Complex.
The Mendocino Complex reached 370,294 acres and 76-percent containment on Thursday evening, Cal Fire said.
Cal Fire’s report said that includes 321,374 acres and 72-percent containment on the Ranch fire. The River fire was fully contained on Monday at 48,920 acres.
Increased containment on the incident Thursday afternoon coincided with authorities lifting the mandatory evacuation orders for all residences with driveway access south of 16000 Mid Mountain Road, north of Pine Avenue, west of the Mendocino National Forest and east of Eastside Potter Valley Road in Mendocino County, and in Lake County for all residences on Bartlett Springs Road, north of Highway 20 to the Mendocino National Forest boundary.
Both areas remain in advisory evacuation status, Cal Fire said.
Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin on Thursday urged people returning to evacuation areas to use caution and to be mindful of the dangers that exist in the fire area.
The Ranch fire, which has grown by another 6,000 acres in 24 hours, is continuing to burn actively in steep and rugged terrain, according to Cal Fire.
Due to temperatures rising and relative humidity dropping, Cal Fire said fire activity increased in the early afternoon. The fire continues to remain active in the Mendocino National Forest as well as threatening communities that reside north of the fire perimeter.
Fire crews on Thursday continued to construct control lines, tying together pre-existing
containment barriers, especially north of the Snow Mountain Wilderness, and to do structure defense in communities threatened by the fire.
During a Mendocino Complex virtual recovery meeting hosted by the county of Lake on Thursday evening, Cal Fire Incident Management Team 2 spokesman Jeremy Rahn said fire crews are making suppression repairs in the River fire area, which means fixing areas where there was damage from equipment and the firefighting process.
The southern portion of the Ranch fire near the Northshore communities looks good, with a lot of containment line in place, he said.
Rahn also thanked the community and local agencies for showing its support on Wednesday when the body of Draper City Fire Battalion Chief Matt Burchett – who died on Monday fighting the ranch fire – was taken home to Utah. The procession went from Ukiah to Santa Rosa before he was flown to Salt Lake City, as Lake County News has reported.
Federal Incident Management Team spokesman Paul Gibbs said that on Thursday a lot of work was going on in the fire’s western portion, just east of Potter Valley.
He said firefighters have had issues with the fire in an S curve of the Eel River on the north side of the fire, where the fire keeps spotting across the river.
That area – where the fire was heading up Grapevine Creek to the northwest – was the source of a large smoke column seen on the Ranch fire on Thursday evening, Gibbs said.
Gibbs said crews have also been doing burning operations along the fireline west of Lodoga.
Officials said several mandatory evacuations remain in place:
– Lake County: East of the Lake-Mendocino County line, south of the Lake-Mendocino-Glenn
County line, west of the Lake-Colusa County line, north of the fire perimeter and the Mendocino National Forest boundary.
– Mendocino County: South and East of Eel River Road, west of the Mendocino-Lake County line, north of the 16000 block of Mid Mountain Road.
– Colusa County: Areas west of Lodoga Stonyford Road including Fouts Springs Road (Forest Road M10), Goat Mountain Road, Cooks Spring Road, Walker Ridge Road and Brim
Road.
– Glenn County: Mendocino National Forest boundary west to the Lake County line, south to the Colusa County line and north to Forest Road 20N07 also known as County Road 308.
Resources assigned to the incident on Thursday include 3,569 personnel, 209 engines, 91 water tenders, 21 helicopters, 73 hand crews and 63 dozers.
Firefighters still anticipate the complex being fully contained by Sept. 1.
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