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Three of California’s Biggest Fires Ever Are Burning Right Now that breaks it down:
California is in the middle of yet another record-breaking fire season with 820,000 acres across the state already burned — more than twice the area that burned by this point last year. In the northern part of the state, the Mendocino Complex Fire has grown to more than 300,000 acres, becoming the largest fire ever recorded in California. In fact, three of the largest California fires since 2000 are burning right now. In addition to the Mendocino Fire, firefighters are battling two more massive blazes in other rural parts of the state. The Carr Fire, near Mount Shasta, has burned more than a thousand homes and caused eight deaths, according to CalFire. And the Ferguson Fire, near Yosemite National Park, is the largest fire in Sierra National Forest history.
California's two-week-old Carr Fire -- which has killed six people and burned more than 1,000 homes -- is now more than 50 percent contained, even as it continues growing, state officials said Friday. "Firefighters continue to build and improve containment lines, and perform building operations in more active portions of the fire," the officials said in a statement, adding that "mop-up and patrol efforts continue throughout the less active areas."
The Ranch Fire scorched 282,479 acres by Sunday morning — bypassing the previous record holder, December’s Thomas Fire, which burned 281,893 acres in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, according to Lynne Tolmachoff, a Cal Fire spokeswoman. The Ranch Fire is 62 percent contained as of Sunday morning, according to Cal Fire. Last week, the Mendocino Complex fires together became the largest blaze in the state, burning a combined total of 283,800 acres. However, the Ranch Fire is the largest individual fire to break the Thomas Fire’s record. More than 3,000 firefighters are working on the Mendocino Complex fires, which together have burned 331,399 acres as of Sunday morning, according to Cal Fire. No one has died in the fires, which together have injured two firefighters and destroyed more than 200 structures.
The wildfire in and around Yosemite National Park was 83 percent contained as of Sunday, bringing the total burned acreage to 95,947, according to a news release. The National Park Service says Yosemite Valley will reopen to visitors 9 a.m. Tuesday and the Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias will reopen 9 a.m. Monday. Joshua Fritz, manager of the Happy Burger Diner in Mariposa, said the park closure has “absolutely gutted” their usual summer income. He estimated revenue had gone down 50 to 60 percent during the closure. He hopes the reopening can help recover what was lost. “It’ll be slow to get back to normal. Hopefully these last few weeks of summer help us get back some of what we lost, but it’ll be slow to get back to normal,” Fritz said.
A 51-year-old man was charged Thursday with felony arson and making criminal threats - among other counts - in connection with the Holy Fire. The Orange County District Attorney charged Forrest Gordon Clark with aggravated arson, arson of inhabited property, arson of forest, criminal threats, resisting and deterring an executive officer and arson burning multiple structures. Clark's arraignment was delayed because he refused to come to court Thursday morning, officials said. Of the 14 cabins in the area of the fire, Clark's is apparently the only one still standing.
Fire officials on Sunday announced that containment of the massive Holy Fire has reached 41 percent, offering more hope to residents of Riverside and Orange counties even as thousands of homes remained threatened. The wildfire's acreage inched upward to 22,714 with more than 1,500 firefighters on the front lines of the inferno that has already destroyed 12 structures in the Cleveland National Forest. Heavy smoke and ash has forced weather officials to extend a smoke advisory through the weekend for Riverside, Orange and San Bernardino counties.
