MENDOCINO CO., 10/18/26 — The Cooley Fire west of Cloverdale was holding at 731 acres, about 1.1 square miles, and 5% containment as of Cal Fire’s 7:12 a.m. Sunday update, according to the agency’s incident page.
Overnight, firefighters kept up suppression work with help from night-flying helicopters supporting firing operations, in which crews deliberately burn fuel in the fire’s path, Cal Fire said Sunday morning. More firefighters were still arriving and would be sent to the fire line Sunday, the agency said.
Crews reported limited access and steep, rugged terrain that made parts of the fire hard to reach safely, Cal Fire said.
The fire started at 5:05 p.m. Friday near Elkhorn Road and Cooley Ranch Road, just north of the Sonoma County line. Cal Fire listed it at 40 acres Friday night. On Saturday, the agency raised its estimate to 1,000 acres, lowered it to 558 acres after more accurate mapping, then raised it to 731 acres that evening.
No injuries had been reported and no structures were threatened as of Saturday afternoon.
The fire broke out near Cooley Ranch, south of Yorkville, where the Mendocino County Air Quality Management District had authorized two prescribed burns, TMV reported Friday: up to 850 acres in Unit 8 Friday and up to 500 acres in Unit 5 Saturday. Cal Fire lists the fire’s cause as under investigation.
The state’s prescribed fire tracker, run by the California Air Resources Board, listed the Unit 5 burn as approved Saturday morning, managed by a private landowner. By Saturday afternoon, the burn no longer appeared on the tracker, and it was still gone Sunday morning. The tracker doesn’t say whether the burn was called off.
Smoke may be visible in parts of Lake, Mendocino, Napa and Sonoma counties, Cal Fire said. The Bay Area Air District issued an air quality advisory Saturday for Sonoma, Napa and Marin counties as smoke drifted south, and advised residents to stay indoors with windows closed if conditions worsen. The district’s forecast showed no alert for Sunday.
Real-time air quality information, including particulate matter from wildfire smoke, is available through the AirNow Fire and Smoke Map.