Ranch fire now 90 percent contained

Firefighters continued to gain more ground on the Ranch fire, pushing its containment to 90 percent Monday.

The massive month-old blaze now is more than 410,182 acres - far outpacing all other California wildfires in state history. The second is last winter’s Thomas fire, which burned nearly 282,000 acres in Southern California.

The increased containment on the Ranch fire stemmed in part from two 9-mile control burns set in the last week in the north and northeastern sections of the fire.

Containment had remained at 67 percent for several days as the fire grew more than 30,000 acres, a combination of backfiring operations and a push by the fire, officials said.

Officials expected to make greater gains on the fire as the weather improved.

“It’s looking pretty good right now. The weather is helping tremendously,” Cary Wright, a Kern County fire captain helping Cal Fire on the blaze, said Monday.

Crews were focusing on the north and northeast flanks of the fire, setting more backfires to strengthen containment lines. Still, hundreds of firefighters remained throughout the entire footprint of the fire, mopping up, patrolling and restoring areas already buttoned up around the vast majority of the 270-mile perimeter.

Meanwhile, a new fire burning in Lake County was at 120 acres Monday morning, but crews had 70 percent of it contained, according to Cal Fire.

The small blaze, called the Cache fire, started Sunday afternoon east of Clearlake Oaks near Spring Valley, an area already ravaged by multiple fires. Sunday’s forgiving winds and weather kept the fire from taking off, Lake County Supervisor Jim Steele said.

The Ranch and River fires, which form the Mendocino Complex, broke out July 27 in eastern Mendocino County and quickly pushed into Lake County where they threatened seven communities before spreading into Colusa and Glenn counties.

The fires have burned 157 homes and 123 other structures.

The Ranch fire, which has burned deep into the Mendocino National Forest and still threatens more than 1,000 structures, claimed the life of one firefighter and injured three others.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.