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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Two fires burning four miles apart in Colusa County grew by several hundred more acres on Wednesday.

The 16 Complex, located off of Highway 16 in the Rumsey Canyon area, had burned 3,500 acres by Wednesday night, with 10 percent containment, Cal Fire reported.

Officials said an evacuation warning remained in effect for the Cortina Rancheria area, and Highway remained closed from the junction with Highway 20 to seven miles east of the Colusa/Yolo County line.

Approximately 1,516 firefighting personnel, 173 engines, 34 fire crews, three helicopters, 18 bulldozers and three water tenders were assigned to the incident on Wednesday.

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NORTH COAST, Calif. – Firefighters were able to keep the North Pass Fires in northern Mendocino County from burning new acreage on Wednesday.

The two lightning-caused fires have so far burned 41,983 acres and are 68 percent contained, according to Cal Fire and the US Forest Service.

Officials said the fire's northern portion continues to burn between Pothole Creek and Stick Lake Canyon.

Fire personnel assigned to the incident on Wednesday numbered 1,088, with 34 engines, 23 fire crews, two airtankers, seven helicopters, six bulldozers and 23 water tenders.

Evacuations remain in effect for portions of Indian Dick Road (Forest Road M-1) and Mendocino Pass Road (Forest Highway 7), with closures still in effect for all areas of the Covelo Ranger District north of Mendocino Pass Road to the Six Rivers and Shasta-Trinity National Forest boundaries.

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Cal Fire has increased staffing due to dry lightning and strong winds throughout much of Northern California.

A low pressure system along the coast is bringing subtropical moisture, which is causing isolated thunderstorms across Northern and Central California, many of which have little to no rain with them. Considerable lightning has already begun and is likely to continue into Thursday.

Dry lightning has already sparked over a dozen fires over the Sierra and northeastern California.

Ahead of the predicted dry lightning, Cal Fire staffed its reserve fire engines, placed additional inmate fire crews available 24 hours a day, and has held all personnel on duty.

In addition to department preparations, Cal Fire is in close communication with local, state and federal partners including the U.S. Forest Service, the California National Guard and the California Emergency Management Agency.

“This year we have seen a significant increase in lightning-sparked fires in California,” said Chief Ken Pimlott, Cal Fire director. “With the already tinder-dry conditions, this lightning storm system has elevated the fire danger even higher for this week.”

Cal Fire urges Californians to remain extra fire safe and help prevent new fires.

A few helpful reminders and safety tips include doing any mowing or weed eating before 10 a.m. (and never during extremely dry or windy conditions); never using lawn mowers in dry vegetation; ensuring campfires are permitted and, if so, extinguishing them completely when done; never pulling your vehicle over in tall dry grass

“We are well into fire season and it’s critical that homeowners have a family disaster plan in place, so that they know exactly what to take and where to go when a wildfire ignites in their area,”said Pimlott.

For more ways to prepare for wildfires visit www.ReadyForWildfire.org or www.fire.ca.gov .

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – A wildland fire complex in Colusa County continued to grow aggressively on Wednesday morning.

The 16 Complex, located in the Rumsey Canyon area off of Highway 16 south of Highway 20, reached 3,200 acres by the end of the morning, with 10 percent containment, according to Cal Fire.

The two fires, burning four miles apart, started Tuesday afternoon.

A portion of Highway 16 from the junction of Highway 20 to Manzanita Avenue seven miles east of the Colusa/Yolo County line remains closed, with the nearby Cortina Rancheria still under an evacuation warning, according to Cal Fire.

Assigned resources include 627 fire personnel, 150 engines, 28 fire crews, two helicopters, 16 bulldozers and three water tenders, Cal Fire reported.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Two wildland fires burning in Colusa County since Tuesday afternoon grew by several hundred acres overnight, causing an evacuation order to be issued for a nearby rancheria.

The “16 Complex” was sparked just before 4 p.m. Tuesday off of Highway 16, south of Highway 20, in the Rumsey Canyon area.

By Wednesday morning the fires had scorched 1,950 acres, with Cal Fire estimating containment at 10 percent.

Smoke from the fires was visible throughout Lake County on Wednesday morning.

The cause of the fires is under investigation, Cal Fire said.

On Tuesday night fire officials issued an evacuation warning for the Cortina Rancheria area, which remained in effect early Wednesday.

Due to the fire, officials had ordered Highway 16 closed from the junction with Highway 20 to 7.1 miles east of the Colusa/Yolo County line at Manzanita Avenue.

Cal Fire had approximately 600 of its firefighting personnel on scene Wednesday, along with 27 personnel from other agencies, and 150 engines, 28 fire crews, two helicopters, 16 bulldozers and three water tenders.

Along with Cal Fire, agencies involved in the response to the fire include fire and law enforcement agencies from Colusa and Yolo counties, the California Highway Patrol, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Caltrans.

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The number of reported hate crimes in California decreased 4 percent in 2011, with reports of such crimes in Lake County also down, according to a report from California’s attorney general.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris said there were 1,060 hate crime events reported statewide in 2011, a decrease from the 1,107 hate crime events reported in 2010.

“There is no place in our inclusive Golden State for hate crimes and their destruction of what makes California so special,” Harris said. “I welcome the decrease in these senseless crimes and commend state and local law enforcement for their efforts to protect every Californian.”

The report showed that in Lake County there were three hate crime “events” in 2011 with three victims and four resulting offenses. That’s down from six events, nine offenses and nine victims in 2010.

There were no suspects in any of the cases 2011 cases, according to the report.

Two of those cases were reported in the Lake County Sheriff’s Office jurisdiction and one in the city of Clearlake. None were reported in Lakeport.

In addition, the report showed two hate crime cases were filed by the Lake County District Attorney’s Office in 2011. No convictions were reported in the 2011 timeframe.

Hate crimes with race/ethnicity/national origin account for the most common type of hate crime in the last 10 years and represented 57.5 percent of all hate crime events in 2011.

Anti-black hate crimes account for 29.5 percent of all hate crimes. Since 2002, anti-Hispanic hate crimes have decreased by 43.6 percent.

Hate crimes events involving a religious bias have increased slightly, from 198 in 2010 to 201 in 2011.

Anti-Jewish hate crimes continue to be most common, accounting for 8 percent of all hate crimes reported since 2002. Of the 201 hate crimes involving a religious bias in 2011, 132 were anti-Jewish.

All police agencies and district attorney’s offices in California, in cooperation with the Department of Justice, have developed local data collection programs and submitted hate crime statistics for this report. Categories are established by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A total of 313 hate crime cases were referred to prosecutors in 2011, and 253 cases were filed for prosecution. Of the 253 filed, 204 were filed as hate crimes. Of the 161 cases with a disposition available for this report, 46 percent (74) were hate crime convictions, 50 percent (80) were other convictions and 4 percent (7) were not convicted.

The hate crime reporting system was implemented by the Department of Justice in 1994. Law enforcement agencies are required to submit copies of initial crime reports to the department, and each agency has established procedures incorporating a two-tier review process.

The first level is done by the initial officer who responded to the suspected hate crime incident. Then each report is reviewed by at least one other officer to confirm that the event was, in fact, a hate crime.

The California Attorney General’s Office published its first hate crimes report in 1995. All previous reports can be found at: http://oag.ca.gov/cjsc/pubs#hate .