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Acreage continues to increase for Mill Fire, Sites Complex
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Wildland fires burning in Colusa County continued to grow early Tuesday.
The Mill Fire and Sites Complex both started burning over the weekend, as Lake County News has reported.
By Tuesday morning the Mill had grown to 13,000 acres and the Sites to 3,922 acres, according to state and federal fire officials.
The Mill Fire is burning on the Mendocino National Forest in northwestern Colusa County, 10 miles west of Stonyford.
The incident – the largest single fire currently burning in California – was reported to be 20 percent contained, according to a Tuesday morning report.
The hot, dry conditions have spurred the growth of the fire, which officials said is burning in steep, rugged terrain.
Approximately 917 personnel are working the fire, officials reported.
The fire's cause remains under investigation.
The Sites Complex, which started Sunday afternoon along Sites Lodoga Road west of Maxwell, consists of several fires, only one of which is reported to still be burning and threatening five outbuildings.
The fires include the Grapevine Fire, which had burned 3,740 acres and reached 50 percent containment Tuesday. The remaining fires – including the 75-acre Antelope, the 100-acre Sites and the seven-acre Standard – all are fully contained, according to Cal Fire.
Cal Fire said that approximately 1,339 personnel, 99 engines, 44 crews, three air tankers, six helicopters, 23 bulldozers and 12 water tenders were on the incident Tuesday.
Lake County residents woke up to murky skies on Tuesday, as smoke from the two fires poured into the air basin.
Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart said Lake County Air Quality Management District has a continuous particulate sampler running in Lakeport.
“The monitor is still reading in the healthy range for air quality, although the numbers continue to go higher,” he told Lake County News in a Tuesday email. “We have an inversion in the basin that is holding the smoke above the valley floor, which is helping minimize impacts. But once that inversion breaks, we could see a significant increase in smoke at ground level. That may happen by noon.”
He added, “Areas that are currently above the inversion and some localized areas may already be experiencing high levels of smoke. In driving through the county this morning, there are localized areas of dense smoke and very poor visibility, indicating potentially unhealthy conditions.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at
Mill Fire balloons to 10,000 acres
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – The largest wildland fire in California continued to grow on Monday, burning through brush and timber in a remote area of the Mendocino National Forest.
The Mill Fire has been burning since Saturday afternoon in steep terrain to the north and east of Upper Letts Lake in the Colusa County side of the forest.
On Monday morning the fire’s acreage was put at 2,500 acres; by nightfall the acreage had jumped to 10,000 acres, with 10 percent containment, according to a report from the Mendocino National Forest.
The acreage increase was reported to have occurred over Sunday and Monday, with an accurate size estimate via aircraft not possible until Monday, forest officials reported.
The cost to fight the fire was estimated at $1 million, according to a forest report.
On Monday forest officials said firefighters were able to slow fire growth on the north and east flanks near Fouts Springs, however the fire grew on its southern flank.
There has been active torching and spotting ahead of the main fire, with afternoon winds that firefighting officials said are unique to the area driving fire growth.
Northern California Team 2 (NorCal2), a Type 2 Interagency Incident Management Team is in command of the fire, based at Stonyford.
Resources on scene included 10 Type 1 crews, four Type 2 crews, seven helicopters, 59 engines, 19 dozers, two water tenders and 700 personnel, according to the Monday night update.
The fire – which has sent up a column of smoke that has dominated the hilltops separating Lake County from Colusa – has led to evacuations at the Mill Valley, Mill Creek and Letts Lake campgrounds, the Board Camp summer home tract, Fouts Springs and Bonnie View.
Under voluntary evacuation are portions of Stonyford, the Lake View Loop Road to the Goat Mountain Road, with residents west of the Stonyford Lodoga Road between Stonyford and Goat Mountain Road advised they should be prepared for a possible evacuation, the forest reported.
Fouts Spring Road – the M10 Road – is closed at Stonyford, Goat Mountain Road is closed at the Stonyford Lodoga Road. In addition, forest officials said an area closure is in effect for the Mendocino National Forest for all roads, trails, recreational facilities for the Stonyford Recreation Area within the Grindstone Ranger District.
More high temperatures and low humidity – along with erratic and gusty afternoon winds “influenced by coastal marine influences mixing with the dry valley air” – are expected to complicate the firefighting effort this week, officials reported.
The fire’s cause remains under investigation.
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Containment increases on Sites Complex; officials concerned about more growth potential
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Firefighters made progress Monday on a complex of five fires in Colusa County, but there are concerns that the incident’s size could continue to grow.
The Sites Complex has been burning since Sunday afternoon near the town of Sites and East Park Road.
The complex’s size was reported at 3,700 acres on Monday, with 50 percent containment.
There are no structures threatened, no injuries reported and no evacuations in effect, according to Cal Fire.
Cal Fire reported there is a potential for the complex to burn more acreage due to the difficult terrain in which the fires are burning.
Sixty fire engines, 38 fire crews, 17 bulldozers, two airtankers, six helicopters and a total of 1,339 personnel were on the fire Monday, according to Cal Fire.
Incident Command Team 4 was activated and delegated command of the fire at 6 p.m. Monday. Incident base camp is located at the Colusa Fairgrounds.
In addition to Cal Fire, cooperating agencies include Napa County Fire, Williams Fire Protection District, Maxwell Fire Protection District, Willows Fire Protection District, California Emergency Management Agency, California Highway Patrol, Colusa County Sheriff’s Office, Glenn County Sheriff’s Office, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
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Small fire burns in Clearlake Monday night
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Monday night fire burned a structure and a small amount of grassland in Clearlake.
The fire was reported shortly after 9 p.m. on Olympic Drive at Burns Valley Road, near Safeway and next door to Lake County Fire Protection District’s Station 70.
Firefighters arriving on scene reported a fully involved shed-type structure along with a grass fire.
The grass fire, contained at approximately 9:24 p.m., burned about a quarter acre. The shed fire was contained at 9:30 p.m., according to reports from the scene.
Another 45 minutes was needed for mop up, with the scene terminated just before 10:15 p.m., based on radio traffic.
Also on Monday, shortly before 9 p.m. a car fire with a report of a small vegetation fire was reported near The Oasis on Highway 20, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Additional information on that incident – terminated about an hour later – was not immediately available.
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