- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Significant containment gain made on LNU Lightning Complex Saturday
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Saturday firefighters made the biggest containment gain on the LNU Lightning Complex in its nearly two weeks of burning, also holding down the fire to its smallest daily acreage gain.
The fire on Saturday night reached 373,920 acres, up approximately 596 acres during the course of the day, Cal Fire said.
Most significantly, Cal Fire said containment had jumped from 41 percent to 55 percent on Saturday.
The portion of the complex where fire growth is continuing is on the Hennessey fire, burning in Lake, Colusa, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties. On Saturday the Hennessey fire grew to 316,207 acres, with containment up to 54 percent, based on Cal Fire’s report.
Cal Fire mapping showed the fire on Saturday had pushed further into the southwest corner of Colusa County, where the fire first appeared on maps on Friday.
On the Sonoma County side of the complex, firefighters have halted the growth of the Walbridge fire west of Healdsburg and the Meyers fire north of Jenner. On Saturday evening, Cal Fire said the Walbridge remained at 55,353 acres, with containment up to 49 percent, while the Meyers fire is still at 2,360 acres, with 99-percent containment.
Cal Fire said 2,819 personnel are assigned to the complex, along with 300 engines, 65 water tenders, 17 helicopters, 41 hand crews and 75 dozers.
Ongoing damage assessments raised the number of destroyed structures to 1,210, with those damaged reduced to 192, Cal Fire reported.
Cal Fire said the updated assessments have confirmed eight homes and one other unspecified structure have been destroyed in Lake County, with no structures reported as damaged.
In Napa County and Solano counties, the complex has done the most damage.
In Solano, 622 structures have been destroyed, including 266 homes and 346 minor buildings, and 117 damaged, including 55 homes, according to the assessment damage report.
In Napa, the complex has destroyed 355 structures – including 250 homes – and damaged 53 others, including 35 homes, Cal Fire said.
The following totals are reported for the other counties impacted by the fire:
– Colusa County: No structures damaged or destroyed.
– Sonoma County: 212 destroyed (118 homes); 16 damaged (seven homes).
– Yolo County: 13 destroyed (four homes), six damaged (three homes).
The counts for structures within the fire perimeter that have been validated as undamaged are as follows:
– Colusa County: 0.
– Lake County: 42.
– Napa County: 1,051.
– Solano County: 1,278.
– Sonoma County: 417.
– Yolo County: 100.
As containment has risen on the complex, Cal Fire said the number of structures threatened dropped by about two-thirds on Saturday, from 30,500 to 10,350.
That led to evacuation orders for some parts of Sonoma County being reduced to warnings on Saturday.
In Lake County, however, there were no changes to existing evacuation orders and warnings on Saturday.
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