Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Still Raging: Largest Wildfire in California History Grows
GV-Wire-1
By gvwire
Published 7 years ago on
August 7, 2018

Share

LAKEPORT — Wildfires tearing through trees and brush, rampaging up hillsides and incinerating neighborhoods: The places and names change, but the devastation is showing signs of becoming the new normal in California.
Twin fires in Northern California being treated as one are the largest wildfire in state history and by Tuesday had scorched 455 square miles — nearly the size of the city of Los Angeles.

“I can remember a couple of years ago when we saw 10 to 12,000 firefighters in the states of California, Oregon and Washington and never the 14,000 we see now.” — Scott McLean, Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman
The Mendocino Complex fire north of San Francisco was still growing this week as it broke the record set eight months ago. In December, the Thomas Fire killed two people, burned 440 square miles and destroyed more than 1,000 buildings in Southern California.
The Mendocino Complex, which is 34 percent contained, has been less destructive to property than some of the other wildfires in the state because it is mostly raging in remote areas. But officials say it threatens 11,300 buildings and some new evacuations were ordered over the weekend as the flames spread.
Hotter weather attributed to climate change is drying out vegetation, creating more intense fires that spread quickly from rural areas to city subdivisions, climate and fire experts say. But they also blame cities and towns that are expanding housing into previously undeveloped areas.
More than 14,000 firefighters are battling more than a dozen major blazes throughout California, state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Scott McLean said.

Ferguson Fire Update

The Ferguson Fire adjacent to and inside Yosemite National Park grew by 2,829 acres Monday and is now 94,331 acres with 43% containment, officials said Tuesday morning.

Water-Dropping Aircrafts Making Progress

Crews made progress over the weekend against one of the two blazes in the Mendocino Complex with help from water-dropping aircraft, Cal Fire operations chief Charlie Blankenheim said in a video on Facebook.
But the other one is growing after spreading into the Mendocino National Forest and then spreading south to Colusa County.
Meanwhile, a new fire erupted south of Los Angeles in Orange County on Monday and quickly spread through the chaparral-covered ridges of the Cleveland National Forest. Campgrounds and homes in Holy Jim Canyon were ordered evacuated. The fire sent up an enormous pillar of smoke and ash.
Crews also gained ground against another Northern California wildfire that has destroyed more than 1,000 homes in and around the city of Redding. It was nearly halfway contained, Cal Fire said. That wildfire about 225 miles (360 kilometers) north of San Francisco started more than two weeks ago by sparks from the steel wheel of a towed-trailer’s flat tire. It killed two firefighters and four residents and displaced more than 38,000 people.
The fires in Northern California have created such a haze of smoke in the Central Valley that Sacramento County health officials advised residents to avoid outdoor activities for the entire week.
Another blaze that ignited last week in the Sierra Nevada has damaged a historic Northern California resort in the Stanislaus National Forest. The nearly century-old Dardanelle Resort has sustained massive structural damage, though the details were unclear, the Sacramento Bee newspaper reported.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

UP NEXT

A Former Aide Says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Kidnapped Her in a Plot to Kill Kid Cudi

Trump to Pardon Reality TV’s Todd and Julie Chrisley After Tax Evasion Conviction

3 hours ago

Westlands Leader Calls Slight Water Boost ‘Disappointing’

5 hours ago

High School Dropout to Five Decades in Congress: Charles Rangel Dies at 94

NEW YORK — Former U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York, an outspoken, gravel-voiced Harlem Democrat who spent nearly five decades on Capitol...

3 hours ago

Charles Rangel Obituary
3 hours ago

High School Dropout to Five Decades in Congress: Charles Rangel Dies at 94

Sean "Diddy" Combs stands as he is arraigned on a superseding indictment ahead of his May trial on sex trafficking charges, in New York, U.S., March 14, 2025, in this courtroom sketch. (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg?/File Photo)
3 hours ago

A Former Aide Says Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Kidnapped Her in a Plot to Kill Kid Cudi

3 hours ago

RIP Local Broadcast Legend Marv Allen, 80, Longtime Voice of KVPR

Todd Chrisley (2nd L) speaks next to his wife Julie (L) and their kids Chase and Savannah at a panel for the USA television series "Chrisley Knows Best" during the Television Critics Association Cable Summer Press Tour in Beverly Hills, California July 14, 2014. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
3 hours ago

Trump to Pardon Reality TV’s Todd and Julie Chrisley After Tax Evasion Conviction

5 hours ago

Westlands Leader Calls Slight Water Boost ‘Disappointing’

U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) annual meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., February 22, 2024. REUTERS/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/File Photo
5 hours ago

Republican Tuberville Announces Bid for Alabama Governor

Residents walk by power grid towers at Bair Island State Marine Park in Redwood City, California, United States, January 26, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo
5 hours ago

PG&E Sees Surge in AI Data Center Interest With Fresno Area Emerging as New Hotspot

Salesforce Tower in New York
6 hours ago

SF-Based Salesforce Is Buying Informatica in $8 Billion Deal

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend