Covelo evacuation orders renewed
Sheriff describes fire as ‘making a great-big run’
Spotting on the August Complex fire near the Yolla Bolly Wilderness Friday night prompted the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office to issue more evacuation orders for Round Valley residents Saturday morning.
“The not-so-good news is that (Friday night), up by Castle Peak, the fire made a great-big run,” said Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall in his latest update with KYBU Community Radio in Round Valley on Saturday, explaining that he was anticipating the issuance of mandatory evacuation orders that did take effect at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 3 for areas north and east of Covelo labeled Zone N.
“But the good news is that Zone N has a lot of open ground and people can see for miles,” Kendall continued, adding that in other areas to the north such as “Hulls Creek, that fire line is holding; we’re looking really good up there.”
However, the areas under mandatory evacuation order as of Saturday afternoon included “the areas north of the Middle Fork of the Eel River, including the Eel River Ranger Station and the Black Butte Store, south of the Mendocino National Forest boundary and east of Williams Creek,” said MCSO Lt. Quincy Cromer, explaining that the additional evacuation orders were needed because “there was spotting about a half a mile ahead of the fire,” describing those new spots as about 300 acres in size.
Other areas of concern, Cromer said, were Zones L and D, and he urged people living in those zones “to be on high alert” as those areas will continue to be evaluated throughout the day and night (Saturday).”
For a map of the zones, visit https://tinyurl.com/ Mendoevac
As of Saturday morning, Cromer said the total acreage for the August Complex was 979,386 acres, with the West Zone at 123,381 acres with 55-percent containment.
As to the weather, Cromer said that Cal Fire explained in the Saturday morning briefing that “we have not had rain in the Covelo valley since May 18 … and that is causing very challenging fire fuel conditions because it is so dry and it’s so hot.
And with these continuing Red Flag Warnings and high winds, that’s what’s putting everybody on high alert, and why we’re hav ing such a challenging time getting our arms around this fire.”