LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Bureau of Land Management Ukiah Field Office will reopen portions of the Cache Creek Natural Area, which is part of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument, in Lake and Colusa counties due to reduced wildland fire danger.
The area will be reopened to the public at 9 a.m. Friday, Sept. 4, for hiking, biking, hunting, horseback riding and camping.
Public lands in and adjacent to the monument were temporarily closed on Aug. 19, as a safety precaution due to the proximity of the LNU Lighting Complex Fire.
Portions of the Cache Creek Natural Area north of the County Road 40 Bridge will reopen, including the Cache Creek Ridge Trail, Cache Creek Wilderness, Cowboy Camp and the associated equestrian area, Highbridge Trailhead, Redbud Trail and Perkins Creek Ridge Trail. The Buck Island Rafting Area will reopen, but no vehicle access will be available.
These areas are being reopened as they were not impacted by the fire. However, Blue Ridge Trail, Fiske Creek Trail and Frog Pond Trail remain closed due to wildland fire activity.
BLM closure orders remain in effect for Cedar Roughs Wilderness; Knoxville Management Area, including the Knoxville Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Area, Hunting Creek Campground and the North Staging Area; Berryessa Management Area; as well scattered tracts at Stebbins Cold Canyon, in Napa, Solano and Yolo counties.
The burn area is still under an evacuation order, as well as a closure order by the Sonoma County Health Officer.
Multiple fires have merged to form the LNU Lightning Complex, which has burned more than 375,000 acres in six counties: Colusa, Lake, Napa, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo.
The public is reminded to stay vigilant on current fire conditions, adhere to road closures and any evacuation warnings. Please also drive slowly and yield to emergency personnel in the area.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The lightning fire complex burning in the Mendocino National Forest has burned nearly 26,000 more acres over the past day, with firefighters making minor containment gains.
The August Complex currently sits at 287,106 acres with containment improving 3 percent to 23 percent, the US Forest Service reported on Thursday afternoon.
Officials said there are 733 resources committed to the complex including 15 crews, one camp crew, seven helicopters, 47 engines, 18 dozers, 26 water tenders and three masticators.
More resources are moving up to the Hopkins fire – 9,402 acres, 0-percent contained – to slow the spread of fire growth on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest and to protect structures and cultural resources in the area, the Forest Service reported.
The Doe fire, the largest fire on the incident at 276,615 acres, grew slowly towards natural drainages on the north end of the fire, the Forest Service reported.
In the Crane Mills area, officials said an additional crew conducted burn out operations between Mitchell Place and Russell Cabin. Firefighters will continue to improve containment lines as southwest winds begin on Thursday.
On the northwest end of the Doe fire, an additional crew is providing support between Buck Rock and Howards Lake where the fire crossed primary containment lines. The Forest Service said Government Flat to Anthony Peak is another area of focus on Thursday for continued structure protection.
On the western perimeter of the fire, officials said southwest winds are expected to push the fire away from the homes and cabins between Plaskett Ridge and the FH7 road.
On the southwest perimeter of the Doe fire where the Hull fire began, additional crews will continue to support containment lines between Bald Mountain south to Monkey Rock where a spot fire occurred yesterday off the M1 road, the Forest Service reported.
Officials said firefighters continue to monitor the southern and eastern perimeters of the fire, where containment lines stretch from Lake Pillsbury to Elk Creek, all the way up to Salt Creek Conservation Camp.
Smoke will result in poor air quality Thursday afternoon as smoke settles into drainages, officials said.
Mendocino National Forest officials updated the area closure for the August Complex on Saturday, Aug. 29. The Forest Order 08-20-11 and map are posted on the forest website.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Wildfire activity continues to threaten communities throughout California, and this emergency has resulted in a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration.
The declaration enables assistance for affected residents of Lake, Napa, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
LNU Lightning Complex survivors are eligible to apply for federal assistance as well as housing, unemployment assistance, crisis counseling and legal services.
If you suffered losses not fully covered by private insurance, register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
Individual Assistance is available for eligible un- or underinsured residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed.
FEMA’s Critical Need assistance can also provide lodging reimbursement to eligible applicants who were displaced from their primary dwelling.
The deadline to apply for FEMA Critical Need assistance is this Saturday, Sept. 5.
· Via smartphone, by downloading the application from www.fema.gov or a mobile App Store; or
· By phone, toll-free at 800-621-3362.
Disaster survivors who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, and use a Text Telephone, (TTY) may also call 800-462-7585.
FEMA assistance is an important and valuable recovery tool. If you were displaced or otherwise affected by the LNU Lightning Complex event, and some of your losses may not be covered by insurance, please register with FEMA today.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Two hundred soldiers are preparing to join the effort to contain the August Complex of lightning fires on the Mendocino National Forest.
The August Complex was up to 261,204 acres on Wednesday, a growth of about 19,000 acres over the previous day, with containment remaining at 20 percent and 700 personnel assigned, according to the US Forest Service.
The complex’s main fires include the Doe/Glade fire, 223,310 acres, 23-percent contained; the Tatham, 15,594 acres, nine-percent contained; and the Hull, 13,177 acres, 10-percent contained.
The largest portion of the complex, which began Aug. 17, has burned on the Grindstone Ranger District in Glenn and Tehama counties.
The Hull fire is burning in northern Lake County on the Upper Lake Ranger District north of Lake Pillsbury and also has crossed into Mendocino County. That fire resulted in an evacuation warning that’s still in effect for the Pillsbury Ranch community.
Over the weekend, the Hull fire and the Doe fire burned together, officials said.
“So far, we’ve been making very good progress,” Dean Gould, forest supervisor for the Sierra National Forest and agency administrator for the August Complex, said during a Wednesday virtual community meeting, which can be seen in the video above.
He said they have been able to get some aircraft on the complex, which has helped improve the situation.
In the two and a half weeks the complex has been burning so far, Gould said the firefighting effort has cost $10.5 million.
On Monday, one firefighter was killed and another injured while working on the Tatham fire portion of the complex, as Lake County News has reported.
During the community meeting, Gould did not offer any new information on the vehicle crash.
He said an investigation is underway and information will be released once it is complete.
He also reported that more than 200 Army soldiers from the 14th Brigade Engineer Battalion from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, had arrived to assist on the complex and will be going operational on Thursday.
The US Forest Service reported that the soldiers arrived on Monday night and have been learning firefighting tactics on the ground in preparation.
Operations Section Chief Jon Wallace of the Southern Area Blue Team Incident Team said during the community meeting that all of the complex’s major fires have burned into the largest fire, the Doe.
Wallace said the operations south of Lake Pillsbury have gone very well, with the area burned out and the active fire within the containment lines. He said patrolling and mop up are underway.
Wallace said Cal Fire has been a key partner for the Forest Service in the fire suppression effort.
“Cal Fire has been helping us out tremendously on this fire with the full gamut of their personnel and equipment,” Wallace said, adding they wouldn’t be where they were without Cal Fire’s help.
Gould reported that the Southern Area Blue Team Incident Team, which has been overseeing the complex since Aug. 27, has had its assignment on the complex extended to Sept. 11, at which point another incident management team will transition into the leadership.
On Aug. 29, a forest closure was issued for the fire area and Gould said a revised forest order is due to come out over the next few days, which will open a good portion of the Snow Mountain Wilderness.
“We are doing our very best to open areas up just as quickly as we can, in a safe manner,” Gould said, adding that there will be more revised orders coming out on a periodic basis.
For those needing access to private property, Gould encouraged them to stop by their district forest office so staff can make sure the property owners have the right documentation and law enforcement officials working on the incident can be made aware of planned visits.
For general questions about the August Complex, people are invited to email the incident management team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 530-487-4602.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Wednesday firefighters were clearing out vegetation within the LNU Lightning Complex as they continued to increase containment on the vast burn area, while one National Guard firefighter was rescued after a fall in rugged terrain in Sonoma County.
Containment on the 375,209-acre complex rose to 78 percent on Wednesday night, Cal Fire said.
Cal Fire said resources on the incident include 2,452 personnel, 221 engines, 56 water tenders, 19 helicopters, 46 hand crews and 63 dozers.
The Hennessey fire portion of the complex was up to 76 percent containment on Wednesday. Its 317,909 acres stretch across Colusa, Lake, Napa, Solano and Yolo counties.
In Sonoma County, the Walbridge fire west of Healdsburg is 54,940 acres and 87-percent contained, while the 2,360-acre Meyers fire north of Jenner was 100-percent contained as of Tuesday.
On Wednesday afternoon, Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office helicopter “Henry-1” was dispatched to a remote area off of Stewarts Point and Skaggs Springs Road to rescue an injured National Guard firefighter who had slipped and fallen 100 feet down a hill in extremely steep terrain, officials reported.
The helicopter crew used a 200-foot-long line to rescue the man, who had a leg injury, the sheriff’s office said.
In Lake County, firefighters were working to burn off an island of vegetation within the burn area near Butts Canyon Road and Oat Hill Road on Wednesday night.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office sent out a Nixle alert to let community members know that smoke and flames might be visible from the Middletown area but that fire personnel were aware and monitoring it.
Cal Fire said the number of structures threatened on Wednesday totaled 2,693. Due to continuing damage assessments, the count of structures destroyed has risen to 1,464, with damaged structures at 231.
The number of structures destroyed in Lake County remains at nine, including eight homes and one other structure.
Evacuation warnings for parts of the southeast portion of Lake County as well as an evacuation order for an area south of Middletown remained in place on Wednesday night, Cal Fire reported.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat watch for Lake County and much of the rest of California due to near-record temperatures expected to occur this weekend and into early next week.
The excessive heat watch is in effect from Saturday morning through Tuesday afternoon.
Temperatures during that time period are expected to reach between 100 and 110 degrees, the National Weather Service said.
The Lake County forecast anticipates temperatures of up to 105 degrees on Labor Day.
On Wednesday, during a virtual community meeting on the August Complex in the Mendocino National Forest, incident meteorologist Chuck Redmond explained that a high-pressure system moving over the western United States will cause temperatures to rise to as much as 110 degrees in lower elevations and up to 95 degrees in higher elevations.
He said that the system also will bring very dry conditions and very low humidity.
This week, in addition to high temperatures, air quality remains a concern due to smoke from the area’s wildland fires.
The Lake County Air Quality Management District has issued an air quality alert in effect through Thursday night due to conditions rated as "unhealthy for sensitive individuals" to "unhealthy."
Air quality conditions are expected to be potentially unhealthy until the region’s wildland fires are fully contained, officials reported.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
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