Biggest Wildfire In California’s History Nears 300,000 Acres Burned

By Michael Cabanatuan

 Published 8:03 am PDT, Tuesday, August 7, 2018

The rampaging Mendocino Complex Fire near Clear Lake — now the biggest wildfire in state history — continues to spread through three Northern California counties.

The sprawling Ranch and River fires, which started northeast of Ukiah and near Hopland, combined into a single incident called the Mendocino Complex. As of Tuesday morning it had scorched 290,692 acres in Mendocino, Lake and Colusa counties, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire.

The Mendocino Complex has destroyed 75 homes, damaged 68 other structures and is threatening 11,300 more buildings. Thousands of residents in dozens of neighborhoods and communities have been evacuated.

Firefighters were unable to gain ground Monday on the deadly Carr Fire near Redding, which has killed seven people and destroyed 1,077 residences since it started July 23. The fire has consumed 167,213 acres and is just 47 percent contained.

The Ferguson Fire, which has closed the most popular parts of Yosemite National Park at the peak of tourist season, has burned 94,331 acres and is 43 percent contained. The fire remains mostly west of the park, but it has burned into park boundaries on the southern end.

The lack of scorching temperatures and high winds Monday allowed fire crews to build and strengthen containment lines.

Still, Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point, Wawona, the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias and the Merced Grove of Giant Sequoias remain closed along with park entrances on Highway 41 and Highway 140.

Highway 120 remains open along with much of the park, including Tuolumne Meadows and Tioga Pass.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan

Source: SFGate