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The complex grew to 360,868 acres by nightfall, an increase of 3,822 acres, with containment remaining at 33 percent during the course of the day, Cal Fire said.
Based on damage assessments, the number of destroyed structures increased to 1,080 on Wednesday, with 272 structures reported damaged. A total of 30,500 remain threatened.
The Hennessey fire portion of the complex, burning in Lake, Napa, Solano and Yolo counties, grew to 303,155 acres and 33-percent containment during the day, Cal Fire said.
On the Sonoma County side of the incident, the Walbridge fire west of Healdsburg edged up slightly to 55,353 acres and 19-percent containment, while the Meyers fire north of Jenner remained at 2,360 acres and 97-percent containment, according to Cal Fire.
Nearly 2,300 firefighters are now assigned to the complex, along with 292 engines, 68 water tenders, 13 helicopters, 24 hand crews and 68 dozers, Cal Fire said.
Cal Fire told Lake County News that the complex is most active in its northern portion, which is in Lake County, where backburning operations have been taking place to slow the complex’s growth.
As a result, while evacuation orders and warnings have been lifted or adjusted in parts of Napa and Sonoma counties, allowing tens of thousands of people to go home, in Lake County on Wednesday all mandatory evacuations and warnings remained in place.
In addition, on Wednesday afternoon the Lake County Sheriff’s Office and Cal Fire issued a new evacuation warning for the area east of Old Long Valley Road and New Long Valley Road, extending north to the Lake-Colusa County line, north of Highway 20 and south and west of the Lake-Colusa County line.
That new warning impacting Spring Valley, Long Valley and the Double Eagle Ranch subdivision – as well as an order and a warning for parts of Yolo County – followed the fire jumping a portion of Highway 16, located a few miles outside of Lake County. Sheriff Brian Martin confirmed that the evacuation warning was issued due to that incident.
Less than a half-hour after the evacuation order was issued, a new fire near Indian Valley Reservoir was reported. Air resources were sent to that fire, which burned into the Pawnee fire scar, according to scanner traffic.
The last radio reports from the scene just before midnight put that fire’s size at 20 acres, with firefighters planning to check it on Thursday morning.
Radio reports on Wednesday evening indicated the spot fire that crossed Highway 16 was up to about 200 acres, but Cal Fire could not separately confirm later in the evening how large that spot actually was.
The Lake County Air Quality Management District said air quality due to the fires is expected to continue to be in the “unhealthy” range through Thursday.
Winds have shifted from the southwest to the west, which is helping to clear the air basin, but officials said smoke is still expected to intermittently impact the air basin until all of the regional fires are contained.
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Lake County’s COVID-19 cases were up to 314 on Wednesday, up from 281 the previous week, according to county health statistics.
Of those 314 cases, 23 remain active – meaning, they are still being monitored by Public Health staff – while 288 are recovered and three have died, based on the county’s Public Health COVID-19 dashboard.
As of Wednesday, five Lake County patients were reported to be hospitalized – the highest number so far – with 24 of the patients to date needing hospitalization, Public Health reported.
Statewide, county health departments on Wednesday reported more than 687,300 COVID-19 cases and 12,551 deaths.
Lake’s neighboring counties on Wednesday reported the following caseloads: Colusa, 434 cases, six deaths; Glenn, 434 cases, three deaths; Mendocino, 656 cases, 16 deaths; Napa, 1,377 cases, 13 deaths; Sonoma, 5,422 cases, 75 deaths; and Yolo, 2,274 cases, 49 deaths.
Local health departments have reported 30,829 confirmed positive cases in health care workers and 146 deaths statewide, the state said.
To date, 9,361 Lake County residents have been tested, while the California Department of Public Health reported on Wednesday that, statewide, approximately 10,832,757 tests have been conducted in the state, an increase of 70,251 over the prior 24-hour reporting period.
On Wednesday, the California Department of Public Health said the seven-day positivity rate was at 5.8 percent, while Lake County’s seven-day positivity rate was 3.4 percent.
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The August Complex, burning since Aug. 17, reached 200,465 acres and remained at 17 percent containment on Wednesday night, the US Forest Service reported.
Resources assigned include 577 firefighters and 154 overhead personnel, 12 crews, 41 engines, eight dozers, 23 water tenders and three helicopters, the Forest Service said.
Officials said Wednesday that firefighters are opening preexisting fire breaks as control lines on the south portion of the Doe fire, the largest of the fires on the complex at 162,326 acres and 31-percent containment. Structure protection is continuing when safe.
On the Glade fire, at 19,684 acres and zero-percent containment, line construction is continuing while on the Tatham fire, 8,958 acres 11-percent contained, firefighters are working in coordination with Crane Mills Timber and using dozers to tie in the fire’s north portion and working with Cal Fire on the fire’s eastern flank.
Those fires – and dozens of smaller ones – are located on the forest’s Grindstone Ranger District in Glenn County.
The Hull fire, on the Upper Lake Ranger District, was added to the complex earlier this week. It’s now at 4,885 acres and 5-percent contained, the Forest Service said.
Located five miles north of Lake Pillsbury, the Hull fire led to an evacuation warning earlier this week that remains active for the Pillsbury Ranch area.
Forest officials also reported on Wednesday that Forest Closure Order No. 08-20-10, which was issued on Aug. 21, remains in effect.
“The Mendocino National Forest is not safe to enter in the closure areas due to the complexity of the fire and the constant traffic from the fire crews, engines and other large pieces of equipment,” explained a statement issued by forest management on Wednesday. “Once it is deemed safe, the Mendocino National Forest will issue permission letters to property owners to enter the forest to retrieve their belongings or check on their properties.”
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The meeting will take place beginning at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 27,
The meeting will be shown on the county of Lake’s Facebook page and on Lake County PEG TV Channel 8.
To ask questions, a limited number of community members can participate via Zoom; Meeting ID, 946 1262 9840; passcode, 288749. One tap mobile also is available at this number: +16699006833,,94612629840#,,,,,,0#,,288749#.
Questions can be emailed ahead of time to
Panelists who will be on hand to answer questions are expected to include representatives from Cal Fire and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, and also partnering agencies such as Red Cross, county health and social services agencies and Lake County Behavioral Health Services. Elected representatives have also been invited.
“Responding to the wildfire threats in our region and keeping people and property safe are our top priorities right now,” said Sheriff Brian Martin. “A significant part of that is making sure people have the information they need as the situation continues to develop. The professionals that are participating in this meeting are carrying a lot of responsibility right now, and we are glad they have again answered the call and will be available to provide information and answer questions on Thursday night.”
This is a fully virtual meeting; the county is not providing a physical location where people can attend.
“Please join us Thursday evening at 6 p.m.,” Martin said. “We have a great panel, and they are there to ensure you have the information you need. Send us your questions ahead, if you can, and we’ll look forward to taking your questions via Zoom and Facebook during the event, as well.”