Firefighters contain 50 percent of Mendocino wildfires

Aided by cooler temperatures, firefighters continued to make progress Wednesday battling a group of wildfires burning through thick forests in Mendocino County.

Firefighters have contained 50 percent of the Lodge Complex fire north of Laytonville, Cal Fire officials reported Wednesday night. The 2-week-old blaze grew by only 300 acres Wednesday, swelling to 11,300 acres.

An evacuation order was still in effect for the areas south of Highway 101, west of Cummings Road to the small tourist town of Leggett. These areas include: The Hermitage, Big Bend and Camp St. Michael.

The American Red Cross has set up a shelter for evacuees at the Leggett School at 1 School Way.

More than 2,200 firefighters are battling the fire, which has consumed mostly thickly-forested land. It was started July 30 by lightning near Laytonville and Leggett.