North part of Mendocino Complex of Fires was very active Wednesday

Late in the day the Ranch Fire ran for at least five miles to the southeast

The northernmost of the two fires in the Mendocino Complex east of Ukiah, California, the Ranch Fire, was very active late in the day on Wednesday, running for at least five miles to the southeast according to the very reliable information from a mapping aircraft at 11:10 p.m. August 1. It is possible it may have spread for an additional three miles three to five hours later, but the data from the later overflights by the MODIS and VIIRS satellites could have been detecting heat and debris in a powerful convection column, rather than fire on the ground. All of the significant activity on the Ranch Fire Wednesday was on the northeast and east sides.

map Mendocino Complex River Fire Ranch fire
Map showing the perimeter, in red, of the Mendocino Complex of Fires at 11:10 p.m. MDT, August 1, 2018. The white line was the perimeter about 24 hours before. The red shaded areas represent intense heat. Click to enlarge.

With the expansion of the Ranch Fire it is now about three to five miles northeast of the community of Nice and four to seven miles northeast of Lucerne; both of these communities are on the east shore of Clear Lake.

To see all of the articles on Wildfire Today about the Mendocino Complex of Fires, including the most recent, click HERE.

Apparently firefighters on the River Fire have been very successful on the south and east flanks, with those locations showing little to no growth Wednesday in the Lakeport and Finley areas. The north side, however, was quite active, spreading north for about a half mile across the north perimeter.

CAL FIRE reports that 14 residences have been destroyed. The two fires have burned a total of 110,168 acres — 74,890 on the Ranch Fire and 35,278 on the River Fire, according to the numbers released by CAL FIRE Thursday morning.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

4 thoughts on “North part of Mendocino Complex of Fires was very active Wednesday”

  1. Bill, thank you so much for your efforts here. It is incredibly valuable to have this resource, given the difficulty otherwise trying to navigate various agency sites to gain an overall sense of events and status.

    Please know how much your work here means to us who have families and friends in the Danger Zones.

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  2. Bill,

    I don’t recall ever seeing NIFC’s Active Incident Resource Summary components at such high levels; just huge numbers.

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