Crews make progress on Northern California fires that have charred nearly 60,000 acres

Fire crews continued battling Northern California fires Sunday afternoon, making progress on the most recent wildfire to ignite, the Lucas fire, burning primarily in Lake County.

The Lucas fire started Thursday morning near Bachelor Valley on the border of Lake and Mendocino counties. It had burned just over 4,000 acres by Sunday afternoon, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

The Lucas fire is located “in the burn scar of the 2018 Ranch fire, which started northeast of Ukiah and ultimately burned 410,203 total acres,” according to Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit.

Crews were strengthening the fireline and making progress keeping the blaze “in its current footprint,” according to the unit, and had the fire 20% contained by Sunday afternoon.

The Plaskett fire, in Monterey County, started Aug. 26 and, as of Sunday afternoon, had blackened 29,961 acres, closing a section of Highway 1. The closure that remained in effect was from Mile Marker 19 at the Kirk Creek Campground to Mile Marker 11.1 at Los Burrows Road.

Despite the steep, rugged terrain making operations difficult, firefighters had reached 83% containment.

Nearby, the Timber fire, also in Monterey County, has been burning for over a month. It started Aug. 8 and had grown to 25,426 acres by Sunday afternoon with 39% containment.

Multiple state parks are closed as a result of the fires, including Pfeiffer Big Sur and Andrew Molera. The Timber fire also led to the closure of businesses such as the Big Sur River Inn and the popular scenic restaurant Nepenthe, which said it was losing more than $70,000 per day while closed. Both spots have since reopened.

L.A. has also had a handful of smaller fires in recent weeks, including the Getty fire, which burned 25 acres in Brentwood on Wednesday, leading to evacuations and the closure of the Getty Center. The museum reopened on Friday, and the fire was 90% contained by Sunday.