Crews set backfires to hold Ranch fire in check

Crews battling the massive Ranch fire Wednesday focused on reinforcing containment lines, holding the nearly four-week-old blaze to 361,562 acres.

The wildfire, the largest in state history, had grown by 4,000 acres since Tuesday night, but fire activity was minimal during the day, enabling crews to set backfires burning inward from the established dozer lines, said Cary Wright, a Cal Fire spokesman.

“The idea is the backfire will meet the head of the main fire and they will cancel each other out,” he said.

Backfiring was expected to continue overnight, assuming favorable conditions - cooler temperatures, light winds and higher humidity, Wright said.

Similar nighttime conditions are expected for the next three to four days, he said.

The Ranch fire, which broke out July 27, is 67 percent contained and Cal Fire officials are still looking at Sept. 1 for full containment.

All mandatory and advisory evacuations in Mendocino County have now been lifted, the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook Wednesday night.

County Road 301 from the Mendocino National Forest boundary remains closed.

You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 707-521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @guykovner.