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The Soda Complex, to the north of Lake Pillsbury on the Mendocino National Forest's Upper Lake Ranger District, is now 75-percent contained after having burned 8,337 acres, according to Forest Service spokesperson Marc Peebles. There are now 655 personnel assigned to the fire.
The 2,748-acre Mill Fire is the last of the complex's four original fires to still burn actively. Peebles reported that a five-acre spot fire occurred on that fire's northern portion on Wednesday, crossing containment lines. Firefighters on the ground were aided by aircraft and contained the spot fire.
Peebles said the fire continues to be active on the western, southwestern and southeastern flanks, especially in the late afternoon, as it backs down towards Thomas Creek to the southwest and to the southeast. Backfires and line construction continue to take place.
The Vinegar Fire in the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness has burned 9,430 acres on the Mendocino National Forest, according to Forest Service spokesperson Phebe Brown. There is no estimate for that fire's containment.
Lake County Air Pollution Control Officer Bob Reynolds said the county's air quality is expected to continue to improve, with measurements expected to be in the good to moderate range through Friday. Some smoke from wildland fires around Northern California has remained in the air basin in recent days, brought here by west to southwest winds.
For more information about the forest fires visit Forest Service Web site at www.fs.fed.us/r5/mendocino or www.inciweb.org. For information about other fires around the state, visit www.cdf.ca.gov.
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The fire broke out at 2:22 a.m. Saturday, July 12, at the agency's complex on Old River Road, said Ukiah Valley Fire Chief Dan Grebil.
Three Ukiah Valley engines were joined at the scene by an engine from El Cajon Fire Department and another engine from the fire department for the Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians from the San Diego area, said Grebil.
The engines were in the county to work on the vast Mendocino Lightning Complex and were able to respond and assist with putting out the fire, which Grebil said took about an hour.
Investigation into the fire's cause is still ongoing, said Grebil.
Paul Tichinin, Mendocino County superintendent of schools, said the fire affected seven buildings, destroying five portables measuring about 900 square feet each.
Damage estimates are still in process, he said. “We do know it's in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
No classrooms were damaged or student records lost, Tichinin said. The district's main computer system also remains intact, with staffers set up in a temporary office facility, using laptops to recover data.
However, a number of programs providing support for special groups of children were impacted, Tichinin said.
They include the Child Development Department, Child Care Planning Council, Americorps and the First Five Commission. Some equipment for very young, disabled children also was destroyed, he said.
A far-reaching impact is the loss of materials and records for the regional after school tutoring program. Tichinin said the program serves Lake, Sonoma, Humboldt, Del Norte and Mendocinco counties, offering training and support for after school programs.
He said his staff was working hard to find what was missing and damaged and get back on track for when the county's schools return to session, which is from Aug. 18 onward.
He said he was especially thankful to firefighters, and grateful that the firefighters from Viejas and El Cajon happened to be in the area.
“We're just really pleased with them,” Tichinin said.
Out of harm's way was Dominican University of California's facilities, which are located at the campus for Mendocino Office of Education.
“We were on the total opposite side of the campus,” said Dr. Lisa Ray Kelly, director of the center, which offers teaching credential programs serving Lake, Mendocino and Sonoma counties.
Kelly said there will be no interruption of service for Dominican resulting from the fire.
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CLEARLAKE OAKS – An 11-year-old boy was injured Wednesday afternoon after the van he was riding in collided with a parked Mediacom truck.
The crash occurred by the Caltrans yard near Schindler Street on Highway 20 in Clearlake Oaks. It was reported at 5:20 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.
Jason Compton, 36, of Lucerne – accompanied by his 11-year-old son, Joshua – was driving a newer-model white Ford van for Half Price Plumbing.com westbound on Highway 20 when he fell asleep, said CHP Officer Mark Barnes.
Alongside of the road's eastbound lane was parked a Ford F-450 Mediacom pickup, said Barnes. Mediacom employee Craig Billings, 47, of Clearlake, had just come down from working on a nearby utility pole and had walked around the rear passenger side of the vehicle when Compton's van struck the left rear of the pickup.
The truck moved away from Billings, who was hit in the elbow by the moving truck but suffered no other injuries, said Barnes.
The collision, however, trapped the little boy in the front passenger side of the van, said Barnes. The eastbound traffic lane was blocked as Northshore Fire Protection Department personnel extricated him.
In the nearby Caltrans yard, a REACH helicopter was staged. Northshore Fire paramedics moved the child – who suffered facial lacerations but appeared to have had no other serious injuries – via a gurney to the helicopter, which Barnes said transported him to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.
The boy's distraught father, joined by his wife at the scene, was limping following the crash, and also had suffered a deep gash to the back of his scalp.
An American Towing truck removed the van from the scene.
Barnes said there appeared to be no other factors involved in the crash, with Compton's speed not being an issue.
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A dry lightning storm on June 21 triggered the Soda Complex to the north and northwest of Lake Pillsbury on the Mendocino National Forest's Upper Lake Ranger District, as Lake County News has reported.
The complex has burned 8,317 acres, with one of its four original fires – the Mill Fire – still burning and at 52-percent containment, according to Forest Service spokesman Marc Peebles.
On Tuesday, the Mill Fire jumped the containment lines on its southeastern portion, and continued burning in a northeasterly direction, Peebles reported. On the western and southwestern flanks the fire continues to be active, backing down towards Thomas Creek.
The fire is now at 2,728 acres burned – about 800 more acres since the last report – with fire crews working to reconstruct containment lines while they're aided by aircraft fighting the fire from above, Peebles said. Firefighters are using backfires to control the Mill Fire's spread.
Peebles said 455 personnel, 12 fire crews, 16 engines, three dozers, four water tenders and six helicopters continue to work on the Mill Fire, which is expected to be fully contained July 23.
Elsewhere on public lands, fires in the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness continue to burn aggressively, having burned 23,649 acres, 9,190 of which is burning in the Vinegar Fire located on the Mendocino National Forest, said Forest Service spokesperson Phebe Brown. The Vinegar Fire is only 25-percent contained.
Lake County Air Pollution Control Officer Bob Reynolds reported Wednesday that the county's air quality continues to improve as the fires die down, and that air quality measurements show that air should be in the good to moderate range.
In other regional fire news Wednesday, Mendocino County's lightning complex remained at 95-percent containment and 53,300 acres burned, according to Cal Fire. Approximately 2,292 firefighters remain assigned to the last three fires in the complex, which has cost more than $41 million to suppress.
For more information about the forest fires visit Forest Service Web site at www.fs.fed.us/r5/mendocino or www.inciweb.org. For information about other fires around the state, visit www.cdf.ca.gov.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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