Firefighters Ryan Foley, center, and Andrew Arthen with San Bernardino Cal Fire make a stand in front of an advancing wildfire as they protect a home Friday, Aug. 10, 2018, in Lake Elsinore, Calif. Firefighters on Friday are protecting foothill neighborhoods in the city of Lake Elsinore near where the blaze flared up amid unpredictable winds a day earlier. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
The Ranch Fire burning across three counties is now the largest wildfire in California history. The blaze scorching Mendocino, Lake and Colusa counties grew yesterday to just under 295-thousand-970 acres. The total acreage burned surpassed the December 2017 Thomas Fire that burned just under 282-thousand acres across Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The Ranch Fire is at 59 percent containment, while the River Fire, which together have been named the Mendocino Complex Fire, is currently 93 percent contained with over 48,000 acres burned.
Cary Wright, Public Information Officer for Cal Fire, checks in with the latest data as of this morning for the Ranch Fire, River Fire and Carr Fire, the levels of smoke we may continue to experience this week, and the weather forecast for the Mendocino Complex Fire,
The Carr Fire burning in Shasta and Trinity counties is now at nearly 202-thousand acres and 61 percent containment. Cal Fire totals released yesterday indicate no change in the total number of homes and structures destroyed and damaged, with one-thousand-77 homes destroyed, 191 damaged, 522 total structures destroyed and 91 others damaged. The number of structures threatened remains at 528. The blaze has killed a total of eight people, including two firefighters.