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- Written by: Lake County News reports
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.
The latest fire information is available here.
Resource specialists are assessing the burned areas and BLM will reopen these areas as soon as they can do so safely.
For specific questions, call the Ukiah Field Office at 707-468-4000.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
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.
Daily updates and the virtual community meeting can be found on the Mendocino National Forest Facebook page.
The most up-to-date information on the August Complex can be found on InciWeb.
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- Written by: Lake County News reports
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.
Disaster survivors may apply for FEMA assistance:
· Online, at www.DisasterAssistance.gov;
· 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.
- Details
- Written by: Elizabeth Larson
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
Information about the fire also is posted on Inciweb and on the forest’s Facebook page and website.
Email Elizabeth Larson at