Calmer weather helping firefighters in Mendocino County

Though much of the extreme fire weather had passed Tuesday, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said they need to be certain the sprawling August Complex fire was under control enough before opening roads and repopulating areas.

“We’ve got some good news and some OK news,” Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall said Tuesday morning during his latest update with Lew Chichester on KYBU Community radio in Round Valley Sept. 29. “The good news is we’re through that weather event, and things are cooling down and Cal Fire is pushing right out there to the area they were concerned about.”

“The not-so-good news is that there are still a lot of unburned islands — big stands of timber that we saw blow up yesterday just up between the M1 road and the (Forest Highway 7),” Kendall continued. “The fireweather really allowed that to blow up, and that’s whywe had (to evacuate that area again, because) we can’t afford to have any losses of life. We’re ahead of the curve so far because we haven’t ( lost any Mendocino County residents), and we want to keep it that way.”

As of Tuesday morning, MCSO Lt. Shannon Barney said the entire August Complex fire was 938,042 acres, with the West Zone at 116,759 acres and 65 percent contained.

“We’re looking at changes in the wind pattern which are very much in our favor,” said Barney,

explaining that the winds will now be “pushing the fire back into itself.”

Barney described Monday as “overall, a busy day for the fire crews,” who were protecting structures in nearby areas of Trinity County, “and it looks like they were successful. Their other area of concern is Branch Nine, which directly affects Covelo. They are basically trying to get a line from Corral Dip, which is over on the Travis Ranch area, across to the other side, which may take a couple of days.

“On the south end of the fire, things are looking really good,” he continued. “Basically fromthe Eel River all the way down to Sanhedrin, they’re in mop-up status. Andwith the windshift, we’re looking at potential repopulation there, hopefully, within the next couple of days. Wewant to put people back in their homes as soon aswe can, but only when it’s safe to do so.

“There is some growth potential in the fire area northeast of Covelo, but there’s much less potential than there has been for the last two days,” he said. “Keep your fingers crossed, things are looking better.”

Barney said that as of Tuesday morning there were still road closures east of Covelo on M1 and FH7, “and as soon as we can open those up, we will do so. I know patience is wearing thin, but I would just encourage people to try and remain patient, andwe will try and get this under control as fast as we can.”

As for whether water trucks can be driven up to cannabis grows, Barney said his office was working with Cal Fire to determine if those will be allowed soon.