Smoky air will continue through weekend

A fire in the Mendocino National Forest, one of only a few still not 100 percent contained in Northern California on Friday, left a smoky haze and all-too common red morning sun over much of the North Coast.

“The weather patterns are pushing it down toward this way,” Marc Peeples, a U.S. Forest Service information officer in Upper Lake, said of smoke that continues to plague Mendocino and Sonoma counties.

National Weather Service forecaster Bob Benjamin said the smoky haze will remain Friday and Saturday, with only a slight chance it will lift Sunday or Monday.

“I don’t see any major changes in the weather pattern,” Benjamin said. “The haze and smoke will probably be a problem, certainly away from the beaches. It will be a a nuisance, and problematic for someone who is asthmatic or sensitive to that.”

Temperatures in Santa Rosa will be in the mid 80s, he said.

The fire in the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness Area was 65 percent contained, according to the Forest Service.

The Mill Fire near Lake Pillsbury in Mendocino and Lake counties is 95 percent contained and is expected to be contained within the next few days, Peeples said.

It is the last of four lightning-caused Soda Complex fires that were burning in that area.

“We are winding down,” Peeples said. “The Mill fire is at 3,042 acres, it is the last fire we are working on right now. We have a few more days of work, we should be buttoning it up by Monday morning.”

Of the 2,096 fires that burned statewide at the peak, 31 are still not fully contained. The fires have burned more than 1 million acres.