Fires burn home, other buildings in Covelo

Two fires that erupted within 45 minutes of each other in the remote Mendocino County community of Covelo burned at least four structures Sunday afternoon, including one residence.

According to the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department, the blazes were started by mowers and did not appear suspicious.

“We had two fires, one was about 5 acres and another about 30,” said Bob Farias, CalFire division chief in the Mendocino County unit.

Farias was unable to confirm the cause of the fires, but said the largest blaze began about 1 p.m. near Cemetery Drive, on the south end of town.

The second was reported at 1:42 p.m., off Ledger Road at the north end of town.

The sheriff’s department reported on Twitter that three outbuildings and one residence were destroyed, but there were no injuries.

“We’re still doing the damage assessment,” Farias said.

Multiple air tankers, a helicopter, air attack plane, two hand crews, 13 fire engines and two battalion chiefs were on hand from CalFire. Other fire agencies came from Laytonville, Little Lake, Hopland, Brooktrails, Redwood Coast and Covelo.

Farias said containment of both fires was anticipated between 8 and 10 p.m. Sunday.