UPDATE 6/14/20 — The fire is 100% contained.
UPDATE 7:35 p.m. — Quote Cal Fire Mendocino Unit Chief George Gonzalez, “Great stop!”
The Hopland Fire has been very quickly boxed in and appears mostly contained though some mop up remains.
UPDATE 6:45 p.m. — Firefighters are now revising their estimate of the area burned to 35 acres, and making a rough guess that the fire is more than 50% contained. It also appears that some light rain may be moving into the area, further assisting firefighters.
UPDATE 6:26 p.m. — Cal Fire personnel on the scene have said that the fire is now about 40 acres, but that firefighters have made great progress on the fire, with helicopters making drops, and fixed-wing aircraft laying down significant retardant drops on the edges of the fire.
No additional crews or resources are being requested at this time, and some aircraft are being released.
ORIGINAL
WILLITS, 6/13/20 — A wildfire has broken out along U.S. Route 101 just a couple miles south of Hopland, near the Green Bridge, and as of about 6 p.m. had reached roughly 20 acres in size, with firefighters saying the fire had a “rapid rate of spread,” and potential for 250 acres. These of course are the initial estimates of firefighters on the scene.
Both aircraft and ground resources have responded; crews and resources continue to respond to the fire as of 6:10 p.m. Based on public data about aircraft movements, it appears that the fire is burning in grass and dry brush in the hills above and northeast of the the 101, just east of Old River Rd.
Though traffic does appear to have slowed, perhaps due to rubbernecking, it does not appear that the 101 has been closed. The heel of the fire is very close to the highway.
Early reports indicate that the fire may have burned one outbuilding, and may have started as a structure fire, though that is unclear.
We will continue to update as more information becomes available.