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KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Fire officials are holding a community meeting on the Mendocino Complex at Kelseyville High School.
The livestream of the video is above.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Mendocino Complex grew again by thousands of acres after wind shifts on Tuesday drove the River fire into homes and properties in the Scotts Valley area outside of Lakeport, where structures were reported to have been lost.
In its five-day run, the Mendocino Complex has burned 90,912 acres and is 24-percent contained. The acreage grew by more than 10,000 acres since Cal Fire’s Tuesday night report.
The Ranch fire continues to outpace the river fire, burning largely uncontrolled in publicly held lands. It was up to 59,014 acres and 15-percent contained.
The River fire is 31,898 acres and 38-percent contained, and continues to threaten Lakeport, resulting in a citywide mandatory evacuation.
Overall, Cal Fire officials have considered the complex’s structure loss to be minimal, and believe they can fully control the complex by Aug. 7.
Tuesday brought some victories such as the mandatory evacuation order being lifted for the Kelseyville, Finley and Big Valley Rancheria areas, which were reduced to advisory evacuations. Potter Valley in Mendocino County also was allowed to repopulate.
But more dramatic were the setbacks, which came in the form of winds that kicked up ferociously, particularly in the afternoon, pitting firefighters against dramatic walls of flame in the Scotts Valley and Hendricks roads areas that were estimated to be more than 100 feet high in some areas.
Fire photographer Stuart Palley, who was on the scene Tuesday, called the situation on social media, “Some of the most intense wildland urban interface firefighting I’ve seen in 100 fires. Fire behavior I saw today is terrifying, there is little to stop it other than fire front following.”
At the same time, new fires – including the Eel in Covelo and the Whaleback fire in Lassen County – required air resources be shifted off the Mendocino Complex on Tuesday, while many resources still remain devoted the state’s biggest incident, the nearly 115,538-acre Carr fire, which reached 35-percent containment on Wednesday morning. It has destroyed 1,465 structures – 1,018 of them homes – and damaged 248 others.
Based on the reports from firefighters at the scene, Tuesday is likely to turn out to be the most destructive day so far for structures on the Mendocino Complex. By nightfall, the fire had burned along orchards and into properties, where a number of structures were reported to have been destroyed.
Cal Fire’s Wednesday morning report put the total number of destroyed structures so far at 11, 10 residences and one outbuilding, while two homes and one other structure have been damaged.
It was not clear if those numbers included the Tuesday night damage. Into early Wednesday morning, strike teams working around the areas of Dessie Drive, Hendricks Road and Scotts Valley Road were tallying the number of structures lost during the fire fight on Tuesday.
Cal Fire has assigned a growing force of 2,677 firefighters, 326 engines, 47 water tenders, 16 helicopters, 43 hand crews and 47 dozers.
Still, with the situation remaining both dangerous and uncertain, the entire city of Lakeport and its surrounds remained under mandatory evacuation as Wednesday arrived.
Late Tuesday night, the city of Lakeport’s administrative and police staff continued to track the situation from the emergency operations center, which they are staffing around the clock.
Police Chief Brad Rasmussen said they had been monitoring the flareups on Scotts Valley Road, located outside of the city limits. “That’s been our concern this evening.”
The fire had made its way to the edge of the city’s water infrastructure wells at the Green Ranch in the Scotts Valley area, he said. “Those are OK now,” he said, with no reported damage.
Fire mapping early Wednesday showed that both fires appear are most active on their northern edges, with the Ranch fire appearing to move more to the east and northeast and deeper into the Mendocino National Forest, where so far resources haven’t been available to try to stop it. However, each fire also contains numerous interior areas where new active fire activity is taking place.
Pacific Gas and Electric said about 1,300 customers in both Lake and Mendocino counties are still out of power because of the complex.
Cal Fire and the US Forest Service will host a meeting to update the community on the complex at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1, at Kelseyville High School, 5480 Main St.
Shifting winds lead to dangerous conditions
Firefighters over the radio at around 2 a.m. Tuesday had first begun noting wind shifts on the River fire, when a light wind started to push it.
At that point, they reported a shift in the breeze toward Dessie Drive, more from the north than the south.
There had also been continued concerns throughout the day for the Highland Springs area. On Tuesday morning Supervisor Rob Brown said the River fire was to the north and west of Highland Springs Reservoir toward the Mendocino County line.
Firefighters were sent in for structure protection in the Highland Springs area where some residents also were preparing to defend their homes.
By the afternoon, the situation near Scotts Valley was reported to be changing swiftly and becoming increasingly dangerous.
The fire began to make runs at dozer line at around 4:30 p.m., and with concerns that containment lines wouldn’t hold, crews were ordered to go into structure defense mode. Minutes later, it was reported that a retardant drop on the fire had “zero effect.”
Dozers reportedly had success putting line in around the Red Mountain area, while planes worked around Scotts Valley.
At around 5:30 p.m., firefighters were moving to the Hendricks Road area, where homes and structures were reported to be threatened, according to radio traffic.
Just before 7 p.m. firefighters reported that the main fire front was running into the Scotts Valley area, where a barn was on fire.
At that time, only two air tankers were left on the fire as the rest had been diverted to the rapidly growly Eel fire in Covelo.
With the fire running over the road and into power poles, the situation was reported to be compromised, as engines were requested to respond to Scotts Valley and Hendricks roads.
Minutes after 7 p.m., the fire was reported to be running down toward Hendricks Road and the headwaters of Hendricks Creek, with the fire going down the creek north of Dessie Drive.
At about 8:30 p.m., all of the aircraft had left the scene for the night, leaving ground crews to continue to contend with the fire making its run through grass.
By 11 p.m., crews were directed to do a primary search and count of structures that had burned in the afternoon and evening. There were concerns about dropping power lines, but incident command confirmed that PG&E had deenergized the lines.
Late Tuesday, the radio reports indicated that the weather was not cooperating with a firing operation, so water tenders were asked to water down roads up to a campground in the Cow Mountain area.
The situation seemed to have settled down after midnight early Wednesday morning, at which point more structure protection protection was set up for two houses located on Dessie Drive.
Progress made on the Ranch fire; officials remain vigilant
On the Ranch fire, officials reported that in the last few days firefighters have made progress protecting homes while a large portion of the fire has made its way into the Mendocino National Forest, which remains under evacuation on the Lake County side.
Operations Manager John Messina of Cal Fire Incident Management Team 2 said at the Board of Supervisors’ special meeting on Tuesday morning that, due to lack of resources, firefighters haven’t been able to do much to stop the Ranch fire as it moves up into the Mendocino National Forest above Upper Lake.
The fire crossed Elk Mountain Road in the forest area and has continued burning out of control, but Messina said they have a plan they’ll pursue once they have more resources available.
On Tuesday evening, when the Ranch fire’s size was just over 51,000 acres, Mendocino National Forest spokeswoman Punky Moore said that 30,000 acres had burned on the forest.
So far, the fire has not advanced down the Northshore farther than Upper Lake, although Nice remains under evacuation and an advisory evacuation was issued for Lucerne.
Back in Lakeport, on the River fire side of the complex, Rasmussen said police and Public Works staffers are manning barricades to keep the city safe. Police are continuing to make arrests of individuals caught in the evacuation area, including subjects found with burglary tools and a man who admitted he was in town to steal a boat.
Rasmussen said his officers arrested three more subjects on Tuesday. He estimated there had been 19 arrests in all of the county’s evacuation areas.
“The cops have been doing a really good job of stopping everything that moves,” he said.
Rasmussen and all of his police staff are evacuated from their homes and working long shifts; by that time, he’d already been on the job for close to 15 hours, after a six-hour break that followed a 36-hour shift.
The Lakeport emergency operations center, where the public is welcome to call around the clock at 707-263-5683, has been getting “a fair amount of calls” from the public, with many people asking about when they can go home, according to Rasmussen.
He said they would be there all night and beyond. “We’re going to be 24/7 until our city is repopulated.”
With the entire city and its surrounding areas evacuated, Rasmussen said, “We’re just worried. We’ve never seen anything like this.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – The state’s chief justice has approved a closure until next week for the Lake County Superior Court’s Lakeport office due to the impacts of the Mendocino Complex, which triggered a mandatory evacuation of the city of Lakeport, where the courts are headquartered.
With law enforcement needed to protect evacuated areas, and many court staff, local attorneys, members of the public and even some judges themselves forced from their homes, Lake County Superior Court Presiding Judge Andrew Blum requested and received an emergency order from California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who also chairs the California Judicial Council.
The general order issued late Monday night implements emergency relief, and deems Monday, July, 30 to Friday, Aug. 3, as court holidays.
That’s important to the courts, because the law establishes timelines for filing paperwork and holding hearings and other court proceedings.
The order said no hearings will be held or filings accepted at the Lakeport courthouse, located at 255 N. Forbes St., through Friday, and that all cases set for this week will be rescheduled.
“All parties will be notified by mail,” according to the notice accompanying the order.
While the Lakeport court remains closed, the court’s Clearlake offices and courtroom calendars will still be held as scheduled, the notice said.
Cantil-Sakauye’s order notes that, in appropriate cases, any judge of the court can extend time frames for specific types of cases because of the emergency conditions.
In one of the examples cited by the emergency order, it explains that a judge may extend the time period provided in the penal code within which a defendant charged with a felony offense must be taken before a magistrate from 48 hours to five days, but only in cases where that deadline would have expired between July 30 and Aug. 3.
The document also offers time extension guidelines for a variety of other cases, from temporary restraining orders, to preliminary hearings, trials and cases involving minors.
Court Executive Officer Krista LeVier told Lake County News that the Lake County Superior Court’s most recent disaster-related closure was for the Clearlake courthouse due to a mandatory evacuation for the Rocky fire in 2015.
“We’ve had to close Lakeport for a partial day here or there over the years but I do not recall ever closing the main Lakeport courthouse for multiple days due to a disaster and I’ve been there for 14 years,” She said. “This is an unprecedented disaster with the majority of the Northshore under mandatory evacuation.”
Email Elizabeth Larson atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
With law enforcement needed to protect evacuated areas, and many court staff, local attorneys, members of the public and even some judges themselves forced from their homes, Lake County Superior Court Presiding Judge Andrew Blum requested and received an emergency order from California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who also chairs the California Judicial Council.
The general order issued late Monday night implements emergency relief, and deems Monday, July, 30 to Friday, Aug. 3, as court holidays.
That’s important to the courts, because the law establishes timelines for filing paperwork and holding hearings and other court proceedings.
The order said no hearings will be held or filings accepted at the Lakeport courthouse, located at 255 N. Forbes St., through Friday, and that all cases set for this week will be rescheduled.
“All parties will be notified by mail,” according to the notice accompanying the order.
While the Lakeport court remains closed, the court’s Clearlake offices and courtroom calendars will still be held as scheduled, the notice said.
Cantil-Sakauye’s order notes that, in appropriate cases, any judge of the court can extend time frames for specific types of cases because of the emergency conditions.
In one of the examples cited by the emergency order, it explains that a judge may extend the time period provided in the penal code within which a defendant charged with a felony offense must be taken before a magistrate from 48 hours to five days, but only in cases where that deadline would have expired between July 30 and Aug. 3.
The document also offers time extension guidelines for a variety of other cases, from temporary restraining orders, to preliminary hearings, trials and cases involving minors.
Court Executive Officer Krista LeVier told Lake County News that the Lake County Superior Court’s most recent disaster-related closure was for the Clearlake courthouse due to a mandatory evacuation for the Rocky fire in 2015.
“We’ve had to close Lakeport for a partial day here or there over the years but I do not recall ever closing the main Lakeport courthouse for multiple days due to a disaster and I’ve been there for 14 years,” She said. “This is an unprecedented disaster with the majority of the Northshore under mandatory evacuation.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at
This story is being updated with new evacuation orders and information.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Several Lake and Mendocino County communities remain under mandatory and advisory evacuations due to the Mendocino Complex of fires.
The following is a summary of the current evacuation orders and advisories on Wednesday, Aug. 1, along with updated information on sheltering for humans and animals, road closures, reconnecting with friends and family after an evacuation and where to donate.
EVACUATIONS
MANDATORY
Lake County
• Bartlett Springs Road, north to Twin Valley Road in the Mendocino National Forest and east to the western border of the High Valley Ranch, and extending east to the western side of Indian Valley Reservoir. This does not include the communities of Lucerne, Paradise Cove, Glenhaven, Clearlake Oaks, Spring Valley and Double Eagle Ranch.
• Western Lake County, north of the Lake-Mendocino County line and Bartlett Springs Road, east of the Lake-Mendocino County line, south of the Ranch Fire, and west of Highland Springs Road, Big Valley Road and Bartlett Springs Road to include the communities of Blue Lakes, Upper Lake, Nice, Lakeport, Witter Springs, Bachelor Valley, Scotts Valley and Saratoga Springs.
Mendocino County
• Highway 20 area from one mile south of Highway 20, east of Potter Valley Road, south of MeWhinney Creek, and west of Mendocino-Lake County line.
• Pine Avenue area of Potter Valley north of Burris Lane, east of Eastside Potter Valley Road, south of 10511 Eastside Potter Valley Road, and west of the Lake-Mendocino County line.
• Midmountain Road area, north of 10551 Eastside Potter Valley Road, east of Eastside Potter
Valley Road, south of 11385 Eastside Potter Valley Road, west of Mendocino-Lake County
Line.
ADVISORIES/WARNINGS
Lake County
• Kelseyville, Finley and Big Valley Rancheria.
• Soda Bay, Riviera Heights, Buckingham Park, Riviera West, Clear Lake Riviera, portions of Loch Lomond and Cobb. The advisory includes all residents living north of Lake-Sonoma County Line, east of Bottle Rock Road, south of Clear Lake and west of Soda Bay Road, Red Hills Road, and Highway 175, including the subdivisions of Soda Bay, Riviera Heights, Buckingham Park, Riviera West, and Clear Lake Riviera west of Soda Bay Road.
• Mendocino National Forest within the boundaries of Lake County.
• Lake Pillsbury basin and surrounding areas.
• North of Bartlett Springs Road, east of the Ranch Fire, south of the Lake-Mendocino-Glenn
County line, and west of Lake-Colusa County line.
• Lucerne and Paradise Valley areas, north of Clear Lake, east of the Ranch fire, south of Bartlett Springs Road, west of Paradise Valley Drive.
Mendocino County
• North of 8000 block of Old River Road to Yokayo Tribe Ranch Road.
• North of Highway 175, east of the Russian River, south of 8000 Old River Road and west of mile marker 5.6 on Highway 175.
• Potter Valley community; all areas north of Highway 20, east of the fire edge, to the
Mendocino-Lake County line, south of Burris Lane to MeWhinney Creek and east of Eastside Potter Valley Road, to include feeder roads utilizing Burris Lane east to the Mendocino-Lake County line.
• Hopland area north of Highway 175, east of mile marker 5.6 on Highway 175, south of the fire and west of the Mendocino-Lake County line.
ROAD CLOSURES
Lake County
• Highway 175, at Highway 29 to westbound traffic
• Elk Mountain Road at Middle Creek Road
• Highway 20 at Highway 29 to westbound traffic
• Highway 20 at Bartlett Springs Road to westbound traffic
• Big Valley Road at Soda Bay Road
• Highway 29 at Highland Springs Road to westbound traffic
• Highland Springs Road at Argonaut Road
• Highland Springs Road at Merritt Road
• Bartlett Springs Road at Highway 20
Mendocino County
• Highway 175 at mile post 5.6 to eastbound traffic (residents with ID allowed)
• Midmountain at Eastside Potter Valley Road
• Mill Creek Road, half a mile east of Old River Road
• Pine Avenue at Eastside Potter Valley Road
• Highway 20 at Potter Valley Road to eastbound traffic
• Elk Mountain Road south of Pillsbury Road
EVACUATION SHELTERS
Evacuation shelters offer overnight accommodations.
• Mendocino College, Dance Room, 1000 Hensley Creek Road, Ukiah
• Lower Lake High School, 9430 Lake St.
• Middletown High School, 20932 Big Canyon Road.
• Twin Pine Casino, 22223 Highway 29, Middletown
CONNECTING WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY AFTER EVACUATIONS
The Safe and Well locating service from the American Red Cross is now active.
Visit https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php to list yourself as safe, using the Mendocino Complex Fire-July 2018 Disaster Event.
If you’re looking for someone, use the same link and click on “Search Registrants.”
ANIMAL EVACUATIONS
Lake County
Large livestock can be taken to Cole Creek Equestrian Center, 4985 Steelhead Drive, Kelseyville, telephone 707-279-0915; or to Helen Owens’ A1 Horse Programs, 18585 Guenoc Lane, Hidden Valley Lake, telephone 707-355-0121.
Lake Evacuation and Animal Protection has been activated and is still offering animal evacuation support services. Call Lake County Animal Care and Control Department at 707-263-0278. Phones are answered by staff between 8 a.m. and 11 p.m.
The Animal Care and Control Shelter is not accepting pets at this time.
The SPCA of Clear Lake, 8025 Highway 29, is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily and is accepting senior pets, or pets with medical issues and/or heat distress.
If you can keep your pets with you, please do so. Pet supplies are delivered to all open evacuation shelters regularly.
Mendocino County
Redwood Riders Arena, 8300 East Road, Redwood Valley is accepting horses.
Mendocino County Animal Care, 298 Plant Road, Ukiah is accepting small animals.
HOW TO DONATE
The county of Lake is unable to accept in-kind donations, such as clothing, household goods and other supplies, in the fire recovery effort. In-kind donations require significant time and financial resources to distribute.
Cash donations are most helpful at this time; such donations allow those supporting disaster relief efforts to direct assistance where it is most needed.
Donations can be made to the fire fund established by North Coast Opportunities, https://www.ncoinc.org/.
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Fire officials will host a meeting on Wednesday to update the community on the Mendocino Complex.
The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1, at Kelseyville High School, 5480 Main St.
The unified commanders, Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service will host the meeting to discuss the current situation of the Mendocino Complex.
Officials will give an operational overview briefing, highlighting the current actions firefighters are taking on the fires, and will be available to answer questions.
Current maps of the fire will be available, as well as other informational handouts.
Community members are asked to arrive early, as the meeting will start promptly at 6 p.m.
If you have questions about the meeting, please call the Mendocino Complex Fire Information Line 707-574-8261.
Email Elizabeth Larson atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 1, at Kelseyville High School, 5480 Main St.
The unified commanders, Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service will host the meeting to discuss the current situation of the Mendocino Complex.
Officials will give an operational overview briefing, highlighting the current actions firefighters are taking on the fires, and will be available to answer questions.
Current maps of the fire will be available, as well as other informational handouts.
Community members are asked to arrive early, as the meeting will start promptly at 6 p.m.
If you have questions about the meeting, please call the Mendocino Complex Fire Information Line 707-574-8261.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Air Quality Management District said smoke from the Mendocino Complex has continued to cause smoke impacts hazardous to residents.
Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart issued another air quality alert due to the complex, which has resulted in “very unhealthy” to “hazardous” air quality.
Gearhart said smoke levels have exceeded the air quality index maximum range.
With particulate levels this high, Gearhart said everyone needs to take steps to protect themselves from exposure.
If you cannot leave the smoky area, good ways to protect your lungs from wildfire smoke include staying indoors and reducing physical activity, he said.
Wearing an air purifying respirator can also help protect your lungs from wildfire smoke, Gearhart said. Air purifying respirators, such as N-95 or P100 filtering face pieces, may be effective in reducing some of the harmful particulate matter, but they also increase the work of breathing, can lead to physiologic stress, and are not recommended as a general protective measure.
Dust masks are not protective against the ultra fine particulate, which is the pollutant most detrimental to health caused by wildfire smoke, Gearhart said.
Gearhart recommended people use caution, avoid strenuous activity, avoid outdoor activities, reduce other sources of air pollution and be prepared for rapidly changing conditions.