Mendocino County fires 38 percent contained

MENDOCINO, CO

Despite a red flag warning by the National Weather Service, the thunderstorms forecast for today did not happen, said Tracy Boudreaux, Cal Fire's information officer in Mendocino County.

The quality of the air in Sonoma County is noticeably better today and improved over the weekend.

Lightning strikes caused 123 fires in the county on June 21 and 22. The fires have burned 37,200 acres and caused six injuries, according to information as of 7 a.m. today.

Two residences have been destroyed, 900 residences and one commercial property have been threatened and the estimated cost of fighting the fires is $8.4 million, according to Cal Fire officials.

Resources devoted to fighting the fires include 105 engines, 24 crews, seven helicopters, 33 water tenders, 46 dozers, 251 overhead efforts and a total of 1,240 personnel.

Boudreaux said the goal is to put out the smaller fires then shift firefighters to the larger blazes. Even though a fire has been fully contained, it can still become an active fire and controlled fires are not considered an active threat, Boudreaux said.

The remaining fires continue to increase in size and threaten critical infrastructure, according to Cal Fire. Additional resources are arriving daily, and weather conditions are currently favorable but significant dry conditions still pose a threat for increased fire behavior, Cal Fire reports.

Evacuation warnings have been issued for the Greenfield subdivision from Fred MacMurray Lane to Ranch Road. An evacuation order was lowered to a warning Saturday from Main Ranch Road to Orr Springs Road to Running Springs Road to the Singley Ranch at 12000 Orr Springs Road, Cal Fire reports.

Evacuation warnings were also issued for the communities of Rockport and Cummings and the Town of Leggett.

Evacuations were lifted for the Chicken Ridge Webber subdivision, Navarro/Flynn Creek and Cherry Creek/intersection of U.S. Highway 101 and state Highway 162, according to Cal Fire.

The Fort Bragg High School and Willits High School remain standby evacuation centers.

Mountain View Road from Mile Post 14 to Mile Post 20 is closed to all traffic except fire department, law enforcement and critical incident resources until further notice, Cal Fire said. No evacuation warnings are associated with the road closure.

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