Although Mendocino Wildfire Contained, Still Weeks of Mop-Up & Patrol Ahead

MendoCoastCurrent, July 19, 2008, 6:30 pm
Date/Time Started: June 20, 2008, 6:00 pm
Administrative Unit: CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit
County: Mendocino County
Location: Throughout Mendocino County
Acres Burned: 54,817 acres
Containment: 100% contained
Structures Threatened: No current threat
Structures Destroyed: 1 residence and 1 outbuilding
Injuries: 47
Evacuations: All Evacuations have been lifted
Road Closures: All roads are currently open
Evacuation Centers: All Evacuation [...]

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California Forest Service’s New Let It Burn Policy

CHRIS BOWMAN, Sacramento Bee, July 18, 2008
If every cloud has a silver lining, what good can be said of the big brown dome of wildfire smoke that capped much of California these past few weeks? Plenty, say ecologists who study the effects of fire on the landscape.
While the siege of lightning-sparked fires continues to inundate [...]

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Mendocino Wildfire 100% Contained

MendoCoastCurrent, July 18, 2008, 7:00 am
Date/Time Started: June 20, 2008, 6:00 pm
Administrative Unit: CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit
County: Mendocino County
Location: Throughout Mendocino County
Acres Burned: 53,300
Containment: 100% contained
Structures Threatened: No current threat
Structures Destroyed: 1 residence and 1 outbuilding
Injuries: 46
Fatalities: 1
Evacuations: All evacuations have been lifted
Road Closures: All roads are currently open
Evacuation Centers: All Evacuation Centers have [...]

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Mendocino Wildfire Winding Down, Now 95% Contained

MendoCoastCurrent, July 17, 2008, 6:30 am
Date/Time Started: June 20, 2008, 6 pm
Administrative Unit: CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit
County: Mendocino County
Location: Throughout Mendocino County
Acres Burned: 53,300
Containment: 95% contained
Expected Containment: July 17, 2008
Structures Threatened: No current threat
Structures Destroyed: 1 Residence and 1 Outbuilding
Injuries: 45
Fatalities: 1
Evacuations: All evacuations have been lifted
Road Closures: All roads are currently [...]

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Mendocino Wildfire Advances to 90% Containment

MendoCoastCurrent, July 15, 2008, 10:30 am
Date/Time Started: June 20, 2008, 6:00 pm
Administrative Unit: CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit
County: Mendocino County
Location: Throughout Mendocino County
Acres Burned: 53,300
Containment: 90% contained
Expected Containment: July 16, 2008
Structures Threatened: No current threat
Structures Destroyed: 2 residences
Injuries: 43
Fatalities: 1
Evacuations: All Evacuations have been lifted
At 10 a.m. on 7/13 the evacuation warning for the community [...]

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85% Containment in Mendocino Wildfire

MendoCoastCurrent: July 14, 2008, 6:00 pm
Date/Time Started: June 20, 2008, 6:00 pm
Administrative Unit: CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit
County: Mendocino County
Location: Throughout Mendocino County
Acres Burned: 53,300
Containment: 85% contained
Expected Containment: July 16, 2008
Structures Threatened: 30 residences
Structures Destroyed: 2 residences
Injuries: 43
Fatalities: 1
Evacuations: All evacuations have been lifted
At 6 p.m. on 7/14 the following evacuation warnings have been [...]

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Mendocino Wildfire Tamed to 65% Containment

MendoCoastCurrent, July 11, 2008, 7:00 am
Date/Time Started: June 20, 2008, 6:00 pm
Administrative Unit: CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit
County: Mendocino County
Location: Throughout Mendocino County
Acres Burned: 52,290
Containment: 65% contained
Structures Threatened: 335 residences
Structures Destroyed: 2 residences
Injuries: 38 minor injuries
Fatalities: 1
Evacuation “Warnings” remain in effect for:

Community of Rockport
Red Mountain Road – From the intersection of Red Mountain Road and Bell [...]

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Blackhawks Aid Mendocino Fire Fight

BEN BROWN, The Daily Journal, July 9, 2008
Among the 18 aircraft currently being used to fight fires in Mendocino County are two Blackhawk helicopters on loan from the military.
Cal Fire spokeswoman Tracy Boudreaux said the two helicopters have been outfitted with buckets and are being used like any other helitack helicopter for water drops and [...]

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Mendocino Wildfires Containment Grows to 60%

MendoCoastCurrent, July 9, 2008, 7:00 am
Date/Time Started: June 20, 2008, 6:00 pm
Administrative Unit: CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit
County: Mendocino County
Location: Throughout Mendocino County
Acres Burned: 51,200
Containment: 60% contained
Structures Threatened: 335 residences
Structures Destroyed: 2 residences
Injuries: 34 minor injuries
Fatalities: 1
Evacuation Centers: All Evacuation Centers have been placed on standby
Evacuation “Warnings” remain in effect for:

Community of Rockport
Red Mountain Road [...]

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Heat Big Risk for Mendocino Fire Crews

PAUL PAYNE, The Press Democrat, July 8, 2008
An army of firefighters in Mendocino County today continued their almost 3-week-old battle and braced for expected extreme temperatures.
“Our biggest concern now is the heat,” said Frank Kemper, a Cal Fire spokesman.
Temperatures in the Ukiah Valley are projected to reach 113 degrees, part of a heat wave sweeping [...]

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Operation Lightning Strike Deploys to Mendocino

Bay City News Service, July 7, 2008
More than 200 California National Guard Soldiers from Operation Lightning Strike were deployed to Mendocino County to assist firefighting efforts on Monday morning, July 7, 2008.
The soldiers completed a four-day firefighter training course which mimics Cal Fire’s basic firefighter training course for new recruits.
This is the first time since [...]

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Mendocino Wildfire Stands at 45% Containment

MendoCoastCurrent, July 7, 2008, 7 am
Date/Time Started: June 20, 2008, 6 pm
Administrative Unit: CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit
County: Mendocino County
Location: Throughout Mendocino County
Acres Burned: 46,800
Containment: 45% contained
Structures Threatened: 335 residences
Structures Destroyed: 2 residences
Injuries: 27 minor injuries
Evacuation “Warnings” remain in effect for:

Community of Rockport
Red Mountain Road – From the intersection of Red Mountain Road and Bell [...]

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With Pride, Californians Step Up to Fight Fires

CAROL POGASH, The New York Times, July 7, 2008
Elk — When he spotted a small fire two weeks ago atop a steep hill outside this blocklong town, Charlie Acker, 57, the president of the local school board and a volunteer firefighter, jumped inside his stubby red 1965 fire truck and, with a skid and a [...]

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FEMA Now Coordinating NorCal Fire Efforts

ROB ROGERS, Redding.com, July 6, 2008
As of July 4, 2008, the north state’s firefighting effort has gone federal.
“When we moved in here three or four days ago, nothing was here,” said Frank Salomon, a public information officer for the Phoenix Fire Department.
Salomon and 11 of his colleagues from the Arizona capital are housed in the [...]

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From the Fire Scene on Mendocino’s Radical Ridge

MARILYN MOTHERBEAR SCOTT, The Ukiah Daily, July 6, 2008
Note: Marylyn Motherbear Scott, whose family home on Greenfield Ranch has been threatened by the Mendocino Lightning Complex fires, shared her family’s fire experiences with Daily Journal readers as she writes about her visit to the fire scene and more.
On July 3, 2008, the silence is palpable. [...]

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Mendocino Wildfire at 40% Containment

MendoCoastCurrent, July 4, 2008
Last Updated: July 4, 2008, 7:30 am
Date/Time Started: June 20, 2008, 6 pm
County: Mendocino County
Location: Throughout Mendocino County
Acres Burned: 39,500
Injuries to Date: 15
Containment: 40% contained
Structures Threatened: 680 residences, 1 commercial
Structures Destroyed: 2 residences
Evacuation “Warnings” remain in effect:

Community of Rockport
Montgomery Woods/ Orr Springs Road to Running Springs Road
Red Mountain Road – From [...]

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Mendocino Lightning Wildfire Now 38% Contained

MendoCoastCurrent, CAL FIRE, morning of June 30, 2008
Mendocino Lightning Complex Incident Information:
Last Updated: June 30, 2008, 7:30 am
Date/Time Started: June 20, 2008, 6:00 pm
Administrative Unit: CAL FIRE Mendocino Unit
County: Mendocino County
Location: Throughout Mendocino County
Acres Burned: 37,200
Containment: 38% contained
Structures Threatened: 900 residences, 1 commercial
Structures Destroyed: 2 residences
Evacuation Warnings are in place for 10 different communities around [...]

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Weather Conditions Improve Mendocino Wildfire Fight

MIKE GENIELLA & MARY CALLAHAN, The Press Democrat, June 29, 2008
A pause in the unrelenting onslaught of wildfires came to the North Coast’s fire country Saturday as thousands of exhausted firefighters and anxious rural residents waited for threats of thunderstorms and lightning strikes to pass.
Chances of storm-related fire danger appeared to be diminishing as weather [...]

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20% Contained as Mendocino Lightning Complex Fire Spreads

The Ukiah Daily Journal, June 29, 2008
Firefighters brought the Mendocino Lightning Complex fire further under control Saturday night with the help of additional resources, but the fire was continuing to spread.
As of Sunday morning, the complex was still burning in 60 uncontrolled fires and had consumed a total of 35,700 acres but was reported as [...]

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Mendocino Fire Officials Expect to Make Headway

LAURA NORTON, The Press Democrat, June 29, 2008
Mendocino County fire officials expect to make headway today in the 35,700 acres of fire still raging through the county.
Twenty percent of the fires burning Sunday morning were contained, Tracy Boudreaux, a spokeswoman for Cal Fire said, and officials hope to make more progress Sunday as temperatures cool, [...]

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California Gov Schwarzenegger Declares Wildfires State of Emergency in Mendocino & Shasta

MendoCoastCurrent, June 26, 2008
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today proclaimed a state of emergency in Mendocino and Shasta Counties as a result of lightning strikes that ignited more than 230 wildfires in these counties. The proclamation utilizes all resources consistent with the state’s authority under the California Disaster Assistance Act.
Yesterday, the Governor visited the command posts for [...]

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Bush Declares State of Emergency for California Wildfires

AFP, June 28, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO — US President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency in California on Saturday and ordered federal aid to help authorities battle more than 1,000 wildfires burning out of control.
“We have over 1,000 fires burning in northern California alone, our resources are stretched extremely thin,” said Cheri Patterson, a [...]

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