Sixteen Complex fire fully contained at 18K acres
CalFire officials have declared the Sixteen Complex Fire fully contained.
What started out as three small fires along Highway 16 near Rumsey on Sept. 4, became a 17,944-acre blaze that quickly burned through the dry grassland, brush and woodland areas of the western Colusa County foothills.
It threatened more than 30 homes in the Cortina Rancheria area, southwest of Williams, but no structures were lost, CalFire reported.
"Firefighters worked through the night to insure there was no spread outside of the containment lines," CalFire reported in a statement.
"Some smoke may still be visible as mop-up efforts continue. Suppression repair efforts are ongoing with the goal of preventing any further environmental damage."
The cause of the fire is under investigation, CalFire reported.
The blaze was the fourth major wildfire in Colusa County since the Mill Fire sparked on July 7.
That fire, which forced the evacuation of Fouts Springs, Letts Lake, Bonnie View and Board Camp Springs and got within yards of some homes, burned more than 29,000 acres in the Mendocino National Forest and around Stonyford.
Some historical structures linked back to the New Tribes Mission were lost to the blaze. That group is closely tied to the 1953 Rattlesnake Fire in which 14 of their missionaries and one other firefighter were killed.
The six-incident Sites Complex Fire started just a few miles to the east of the Mills Fire on July 8.
It burned more than 4,000 acres, but did not destroy any structures. The most devastating was also a multi-incident event.
First separated as the Walker Ridge Fire in Colusa County and the Wye Fire in Lake County, the blaze quickly became a single incident and destroyed two homes and damaged two others in the Spring Valley area of eastern Lake County.
It threatened but did not reach the Wilbur Hot Springs resort area in Colusa County.
The first fire started along Highway 20 east of Walker Ridge Road about 3:49 p.m. on Aug. 12 and quickly spread east into Colusa County.
The second fire started just 15 miles away at Highways 20 and 53.
That fire forced the evacuation of the Lake County communities of New Long Valley, Old Long Valley and Spring Valley. Nearly 500 residents had to flee their homes. The fire burned 7,934 acres.
