UPDATED 9:50pm 8/31/17 — The Rock Fire near Laytonville has been contained at ten acres, according to a 9pm update from Cal Fire. The reduced size of the fire is due to improved mapping of the area. Two residential doublewide mobile homes were destroyed and there was damage to one outbuilding. The Sherwood fire on Sherwood Road is officially contained at “just under” one acre in size.
UPDATED 7:20pm 8/31/17 — Kym Kemp reports that the Miller Incident — on Bell Springs Road near the Miller Ranch in the Island Mountain/Alderpoint ares of southern Humboldt — has reached over 90 acres and voluntary evacuations are occurring. The fire is 10% contained and forward progress has stopped, according to Kemp. Here’s her report. You can listen to the KMUD News report on regional fires at the link embedded below. Also, the Governor declared a state of emergency today after the Helena fire in Trinity County, here’s his statement.
UPDATED 4:45pm 8/31/17 — The northbound lanes of Highway 101 near West Road are now open after a vehicle fire that has since been contained.
UPDATED 4:30pm 8/31/17 — A vehicle fire is being reported on northbound Highway 101 and West Road near Redwood Valley. Northbound lanes may be shut down. Scanner traffic indicates it is a blue Ford sedan that is now fully engulfed. Cal Fire is responding and trying to contain the blaze so it does not spread to nearby vegetation, according the the CHP incident page. It is unclear if there are any injuries involved at this time.
Scanner traffic indicates that some vehicles are turning around on the highway to avoid being stuck in traffic as northbound lanes of Highway 101 may be closed. Please be patient as emergency responders are also waiting in traffic attempting to reach the scene, according to the scanner.
UPDATED 4:05pm 8/31/17 — The Miller Incident fire in the Alderpoint area reached 75 acres around 3:15pm, according the Kym Kemp at our sister paper. A red flag warning is in effect for the Mendocino National Forest until 8am Saturday, and other parts of inland Mendocino through the weekend. Hot temperatures, low humidity, and high winds are expected through the weekend, which can lead to conditions extremely conducive to fires, and thunderstorms are possible later in the weekend. The fire risk is currently considered the highest on Friday morning. Here’s excerpts from the warning from Cal Fire, you can also find their fire weather map here. More information about the fires earlier today can be found below.
RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM PDT FRIDAY ABOVE 1500 FEET
Red Flag Warning issued August 31 at 3:17PM PDT expiring September 1 at 9:00AM PDT by NWS Eureka CA
..VERY HOT DRY CONDITIONS WILL LEAD TO AT LEAST ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS AREA WIDE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY… .High pressure building in will bring drying offshore winds tonight, followed by an extended period of very hot and dry conditions. Gusty east winds will increase this evening and continue through the night at high elevations, and poor overnight recoveries can be expected. Winds will weaken during the day Friday, but critically hot and dry conditions will continue through at least Monday morning. While winds Friday through Sunday night are expected to be mostly weak, periods of critical fire weather will be possible given the extreme dryness expected. * AFFECTED AREA…High elevations of fire weather zones 211… 212 encompassing inland Humboldt and Trinity counties. * WIND…Northeast 10 to 15 mph sustained, with gusts to 25 mph likely. * HUMIDITY…Overnight recoveries of 15 to 20 percent on the mid slopes and ridges. Single digit afternoon RH likely as well. * TIMING…Winds will increase tonight and continue through Friday morning. Humidity will begin a substantial decrease through the day today and remain very low through early next week, both during the day and overnight. WORST COMBINATION OF WIND AND LOW HUMIDITY LIKELY TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY MORNING… with additional periods of critical conditions possible through the weekend. * IMPACTS…Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly.
RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM PDT FRIDAY ABOVE 1500 FEET
Red Flag Warning issued August 31 at 3:17PM PDT expiring September 1 at 9:00AM PDT by NWS Eureka CA
..VERY HOT DRY CONDITIONS WILL LEAD TO AT LEAST ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS AREA WIDE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY… .High pressure building in will bring drying offshore winds tonight, followed by an extended period of very hot and dry conditions. Gusty east winds will increase this evening and continue through the night at high elevations, and poor overnight recoveries can be expected. Winds will weaken during the day Friday, but critically hot and dry conditions will continue through at least Monday morning. While winds Friday through Sunday night are expected to be mostly weak, periods of critical fire weather will be possible given the extreme dryness expected. * AFFECTED AREA…High elevations of fire weather zones 276 and 277 encompassing inland Mendocino and Lake Counties. * WIND…East 10 to 15 mph sustained, with gusts to 20 mph likely. * HUMIDITY…Overnight recoveries of 15 to 20 percent on the mid slopes and ridges. Single digit afternoon RH likely as well. * TIMING…Winds will increase tonight and continue through Friday morning. Humidity will begin a substantial decrease through the day Thursday and remain very low through early next week, both during the day and overnight. WORST COMBINATION OF WIND AND LOW HUMIDITY LIKELY TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY MORNING…with additional periods of critical conditions possible through the weekend. * IMPACTS…Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly.
UPDATE 3:25pm: Cal Fire is now reporting that there is no fire on Bell Springs Road, the smoke spotted throughout the area appears to be from other fires. The Rock Fire on Spy Rock Road destroyed two double wide mobile homes and caused “extensive damage to [a] shop building,” according to the most recent Cal Fire update.
3:05pm, 8/31/17 — Smoke has been spotted on Bell Springs Road near the crossroads with Milstead Road, and Cal Fire crews are responding. The smoke was spotted in the general vicinity of Island Mountain, here’s the map from Cal Fire:
#BellFire Report: single report of smoke visable from Bell Springs Road cross of Milstead Road pic.twitter.com/cneq20yVAc
— CAL FIRE Mendocino (@CALFIRE_MEU) August 31, 2017
3:05pm, 8/31/17 — The Rock Incident on Spy Rock Road has been contained at around 12 acres. Firefighters will remain at the scene for four to five hours to “clean up” any remaining hot spots, according to a 3:03pm update from Cal Fire.
2:50pm, 8/31/17 — The Sherwood Fire is now contained at approximately one acre. Firefighters have a “wet line” around the Sherwood Incident, according to Cal Fire. One engine and crew will remain on scene to continue to mop up the fire. Resources are being released from the Sherwood fire to return to other incidents in the region. Kym Kemp is reporting that the Miller Incident fire in the Alderpoint area has reached ten acres with the potential to grow much bigger.
2:45pm, 8/31/17 — Residents are reporting that traffic on Spy Rock Road may be one-way due to the Rock Fire, additional updates are being provided by Laytonville’s community radio station KPFN at 105.1 FM. The structure fire in Ukiah took place on the 500 block of Leslie Street. Our sister paper Kym Kemp is reporting on the fire in Alderpoint in southern Humboldt known as the Miller incident.
Local fire crews are continuing to fight a grass fire on Sherwood Road in the Brooktrails area, known as the Sherwood Incident, with air and ground attacks. We’ll update as we get more info. A map of the Sherwood Incident is in the previous update.
UPDATED 2:30pm, 8/31/17 — Crews are also responding to a fire on Sherwood Road being called the “Sherwood Incident,” near the Sherwood Rancheria. The Sherwood Incident grass fire is two acres and a slow rate of spread, no structures are currently threatened. Here’s the map from Cal Fire:
#SherwoodFire Report of vegetation fire on Sherwood Rancheria Road near the Sherwood Rancheria pic.twitter.com/oMmWJMgFVP
— CAL FIRE Mendocino (@CALFIRE_MEU) August 31, 2017
UPDATED: 2:20pm, 8/31/17 — Crews are still responding to the Rock Fire, on Spy Rock Road in the Laytonville area, as well as to a structure fire taking place in Ukiah on Leslie Street. Another fire has also just started in Alderpoint called the “Miller Fire,” taking place just north of the Mendocino County line. We’ll update as more info becomes available. Here’s a video of the Ukiah fire sent from reader Ryan Hobbs:
UPDATED 1:55pm, 8/31/17 — Crews are staging on Spy Rock Road in order to attack the Rock Fire developing north of Laytonville, according to scanner traffic. A reader is reporting that at least two structures are involved and the fire has now reached ten acres. The fire initially started in vegetation and multiple crews from around the county and region are responding, with additional resources requested. Smoke is in the air in Willits but its source is unclear; there are many fires burning throughout Northern California. Our sister paper, Redheaded Blackbelt, has a video from the scene you can check out here.
We’ll update as soon as more information becomes available.
A structure fire is also starting on Leslie Street in Ukiah, according to the scanner, and crews are responding. The fire may have been caused by a fence on fire.
Willits, CA, 8/31/17 — A six acre fire north of Laytonville, called the Rock Fire, has reached six acres at a moderate rate of spread, and involves at least one structure as of 1:15pm. Other structures may be threatened, according to the Cal Fire Mendocino Unit. Cal Fire crews are responding including three enginesand “Air Attack 110” and Laytonville Fire has also sent one engine, one rescue crew and one water tender. Cal Fire Humboldt has also sent resources including one helicopter and one tanker; crews from Leggett, Little Lake, Redwood Valley, and Potter Valley Fire departments are also responding.
The fire was first reported at around 12:15pm and was visible from Spy Rock Road, north of Laytonville. This photo was submitted by a reader who says it was taken from Highway 101 north of Black Oak Ranch.
