
MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – Mendocino National Forest officials said the growth rate on the East fire in the Yolla Bolly Wilderness has picked up.
On Saturday, the fire had grown to 325 acres, with zero containment, forest officials reported. The fire has grown by more than 100 acres since Friday.
Forest officials said moderate north winds Friday night kept the East fire fairly active until 2 a.m.
To the southeast, the Haynes fire is estimated at 23 acres and 90 percent contained.
The fires started June 17 approximately 23 miles northeast of Covelo in Trinity County.
There are 145 personnel working on these fires including smokejumpers, hotshot crews, wildland fire modules, helicopters and support personnel.
On the East fire, crews are working to guide the fire southward toward the Middle Fork Eel River inside the designated confinement area.
The confinement area is between East Ridge, Buck Ridge and Wrights Ridge and totals about 1,000 acres in size.
On the Haynes fire, crews plan to extinguish burning logs and vegetation near the containment lines. As the work needed on this fire diminishes, personnel will be released to be available for other assignments.
Incident Commander Trainee Terry Nickerson said after Friday’s helicopter flight, “We observed low to moderate activity on the fire which is helping reduce snags and debris in the wilderness in a natural way. We feel this is a great opportunity to manage this incident, at this time and in this location to improve forest health and reduce exposure and risk to fire personnel.”
Nickerson added, “The fire is burning exactly as we want it to.”
The weather forecast shows north winds from 7 to 12 miles per hour and temperatures in the 70s with a cooling trend early next week.
Wilderness hikers are asked to avoid travel near Buck Ridge and Wrights Ridge.