At a Glance The Mendocino Complex in Northern California has scorched more than 400 square miles. The pair of fires, now the fourth-largest in state history, destroyed at least 130 structures. Near Redding, more than 1,550 buildings have been destroyed by deadly Carr Fire, and 1,350 more are threatened. The Carr Fire has killed seven people, officials said. This article is no longer being updated. For the latest news, click here. A pair of wildfires in Northern California burned more than 400 square miles, becoming the fourth-largest wildfire in state history. The so-called Mendocino Complex prompted new evacuations in Lake and Mendocino counties amid fears that hot, windy and dry weather conditions could fan the flames. There are at least 18 major fires burning throughout California, authorities said. The Mendocino Complex is comprised of the Ranch Fire in Mendocino County, which has burned 341 square miles and was 23 percent contained as of Sunday. Its twin, the River Fire, has burned 76 square miles and was 58 percent contained. Combined, the Mendocino Complex far surpasses the size of the deadly Carr Fire burning near Redding, California, and has burned an area larger than Dallas. (MORE: Yosemite's Air Quality Is as Bad as This City's) Nearly 20,000 people were ordered to evacuate in Lake and Mendocino counties as the blazes encroached on several towns surrounding Clear Lake. New evacuations were ordered in neighboring Glenn and Colusa counties, including an area just east of the boundary of Mendocino National Forest. The Mendocino Complex has destroyed at least 68 homes, 62 other structures and threatens 15,300 buildings, Cal Fire said. Authorities are investigating what caused the fires. Carr Fire Death Toll Rises to 7 The death toll in the so-called Carr Fire, burning west of Redding, some 150 miles north of Sacramento, rose again over the weekend. Officials said a utility worker, identified as Jairus Ayeta, died Saturday in a vehicle-related accident while working to restore power in an area impacted by the blaze, according to the Associated Press. It was the seventh death blamed on the wildfire, which has destroyed more than 2,000 structures, 1,080 of which are homes. Advertisement The inferno reportedly started when a tire blew on a tractor-trailer, which caused a spark as the rim of the tire struck the asphalt, CNN reported. (MORE: Six of California's 10 Most Destructive Fires Have Occurred in the Last 10 Months) The Carr Fire is now the fifth most destructive wildfire in state history, according to Cal Fire records. It's also the 13th-deadliest and 15th-largest wildfire the Golden State has seen since records began. The inferno was 43 percent contained as of Sunday, according to Cal Fire. On Saturday, California Gov. Jerry Brown toured the region and asked President Donald Trump to declare a major disaster. The declaration would make more federal funding available for fire response and provide assistance to evacuees who have suffered losses due to the fires. Ferguson Fire Keeps Parts of Yosemite Closed Another wildfire, known as the Ferguson Fire, has burned more than 140 square miles near Yosemite National Park as of Sunday. Two people have died in that fire, which is 38 percent contained. A portion of the national park, which has been closed since last week, is expected to remain closed indefinitely. "Park administrators and fire managers have made the decision to extend the current park closures indefinitely," said the National Park Service in a statement obtained by the AP. "Fire managers are continuously assessing conditions in the area and will work directly with and will immediately advise park managers as conditions change and it becomes safe to reopen." The northern third of the park remains open, but it is still the most extensive closure since 1997, when flooding forced a two-month closure.<doc-sep>UKIAH, Calif. (KGO) -- A pair of wildfires sparked Friday afternoon in Mendocino County.The bigger of the fires, the River Fire, has burned at least 4,000 acres near Hopland. It destroyed a mobile home, several other structures and several vehicles.The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office is requesting the immediate evacuations of the following areas: South from the 8000 block of Old River Road to the area of the roundabout at Highway 175, including all residences feeding onto University Road and all areas feeding onto Old River Road west to the Russian River. There is also a mandatory evacuation order south of Hwy 175, east of Old River Road to Highway 101 and east to Old Toll Road and Ranch Road area.Some people in Sonoma County received mobile alerts about this fire, but the sheriff's office says there are no evacuation orders.The sheriff's office says that because of where cellphone towers are located, the cellphones of some people in northern Sonoma County were picking up the emergency alerts and evacuation warnings meant for neighboring Mendocino County.The other fire, called the Ranch Fire, burned 175 acres near Ukiah and is now threatening a handful of homes.For the Ranch Fire, an Advisory Evacuation Notice was ordered for the Blue Lakes, Bachelor Valley and Witter Springs areas. Should mandatory evacuations be issued, a shelter site will be identified.Cal Fire reported a firefighter injured but did not give any more details.<doc-sep>NICE (CBS SF) — Just when firefighters were making progress on a massive fire burning in Mendocino and Lake counties, Mother Nature was preparing to deliver another haymaker with forecasters predicting a triple threat of high winds, soaring temperatures and falling humidity. The National Weather Service has issued a red-flag warning for the Mendocino Complex Fire area beginning at 11 a.m Friday and running through 11 p.m. Saturday. “A red flag warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now, or will shortly,” the weather service warned. “A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior.” The growing fire already had forced Cal Fire to issue new mandatory evacuation orders for residents living along the western shore of Clear Lake. The new orders expand the area under mandatory evacuation to west of Lucerne at Bartlett Springs Road and Highway CA-20, south of the fire, east of the fire, north of Clear Lake including the communities of Blue Lakes, Upper Lake, Nice, Lakeport, WitterSprings, Bachelor Valley, Scotts Valley, Saratoga Springs. While some progress was made overnight on containing portions of the massive Mendocino Complex fire, the blaze’s northward advance into the Mendocino National Forest was almost unabated. Firefighters conduct a controlled burn to defend houses against flames from the Ranch fire, as it continues to spreads towards the town of Upper Lake, California on August 2, 2018. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP) The Mendocino Complex Fire consists of two blazes — the River and Ranch fires. The Ranch Fire — the larger of the two — is 15 percent contained while the Ranch Fire is 50 percent. Firefighters conduct a controlled burn to defend houses against flames from the Ranch fire, as it continues to spreads towards the town of Upper Lake, California on August 2, 2018. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP) The two blazes were moving toward each other physically and may combine into one massive blaze that has already burned through more than 110,168 acres, destroyed 12 homes and forced thousands to evacuate. Cal Fire Operations Section Chief Charlie Blankenheim told a gathering of residents at a meeting in Kelseyville Wednesday night that the Ranch Fire had burned more than 25,000 acres of the national forest. Firefighters conduct a controlled burn to defend houses against flames from the Ranch fire, as it continues to spreads towards the town of Upper Lake, California on August 2, 2018. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP) More than 3,000 firefighters are battling the Mendocino Complex and were making some progress in slowing the fire that has been fueled by dry brush and fanned by wind and high temperatures. “We are making headway and we are feeling optimistic if we can just get a change in the weather,” said Cal Fire spokesperson Sean Kavanaugh. “We’ve been getting these extreme winds in the afternoon that have been hampering our control operations.” Cal Fire is currently battling two fires that have grown over 100,000 acres. The Carr Fire in Shasta County had grown to 125,842 acres by Thursday morning. It had destroyed 1,060 residences, 18 commercial structures and damaged another 186 homes. “In past decades, we may have seen fires like we are seeing now in August or September,” said Cal Fire Chief Ken Pimlott. “We are routinely seeing fires reach 100,000 acres several times in one month.”<doc-sep>
LAKE COUNTY (CBS SF/AP) — A new mandatory evacuation order went out in Mendocino County Friday afternoon for the River Fire, according to authorities. At around 3:45 p.m., an order went out from Cal Fire calling for the Cow Mountain area of Mendocino County South of State Route 20, west of the Mendocino/Lake County line, east of the intersection of North Cow Mountain Road and Cow Mountain Access Road and north ofthe current fire perimeter of the River Fire. An evacuation warning also went out for the East Ukiah Valley area warning residents to prepare for possible evacuation. ALSO READ: However there was some good news Friday afternoon as evacuation orders were reduced for the southwest Lakeport area and the area of Highland Springs, allowing residents to repopulate those two regions. Highway 175 was also reopened to traffic at 4 p.m. Earlier, Cal Fire announced at 11:49 a.m. that the evacuation order was for the Lucerne, Pepperwood Grove, Paradise Valley, Glenhaven and Clearlake Oaks areas of Lake County. The evacuation zone included all areas north of Clear Lake, south and east of Bartlett Springs Road at Highway 20, west of Bartlett Springs Road at the Indian Valley Reservoir and south to New Long Valley Road and Highway 20 at Highway 53. Additionally, there was a mandatory evacuation issued for Yosemite Valley. The evacuation is due to multiple hazards along El Portal Road, Big Oak Flat Road, and Wawona Road, as well as power outages in Yosemite Valley. The National Park Service said Yosemite Valley is not threatened by the fire as of Friday at noon. Yosemite Valley residents must leave the valley by noon Friday, National Park Service officials said. El Portal Road (extension of Highway 140 within the park) and Big Oak Flat Road west of Crane Flat may be closed for an extended period of time due to fire activity, hazard trees, and firefighters working on the roads, the NPS said. Access to Yosemite Valley is closed through Sunday due to fire operations, the NPS said. That includes El Portal Road (Highway 140 inside the park), Wawona Road (Highway 41 inside the park), and Big Oak Flat Road (Highway 120, inside the park between the Big Oak Flat Entrance Station and Yosemite Valley). The only public access into Yosemite National Park is via Tioga Pass from Highway 120 east via U.S. 395 from Lee Vining. Meanwhile, firefighters battling the deadly and destructive wildfires in the region faced worsening weather conditions. The National Weather Service issued warnings for critical fire weather conditions into Saturday, saying a series of dry low-pressure systems passing through the region would bring afternoon gusts up to 35 mph (56 kph). Forecasters said the highest threat areas included the so-called Carr Fire near the city of Redding and the Mendocino Complex of two fires north of San Francisco. The forecast included extremely low humidity levels that leave vegetation ready to burn. • ALSO READ: 143 MPH Fire Tornado Ripped Through Redding During Carr Fire The 206-square-mile (533-square-kilometer) Carr Fire 100 miles south of the Oregon border was 39 percent contained after destroying 1,060 homes and many other structures. Two firefighters and four other people have been killed since the blaze, which ignited July 23, raced with extraordinary fury toward the region’s largest city. More than 1,300 homes remained threatened. To the southwest, new evacuations were ordered late Thursday at the Mendocino Complex, where the so-called Ranch and River fires have ravaged a combined 240 square miles (621 square kilometers), destroyed 41 residences and threatened 9,200 homes. Both fires were active overnight, including a rapid expansion eastward by the Ranch Fire. Combined containment was 30 percent early Friday. • ALSO READ: Wildfire Smoke Prompts Bay Area Air Quality Advisory In the Sierra Nevada, firefighters achieved 41 percent containment of a 115-square-mile (298-square-kilometer) forest fire that has shut down Yosemite Valley and other adjacent portions of Yosemite National Park at what is normally the height of summer tourism. Two firefighters have been killed there since a fire erupted just west of Yosemite in the Sierra National Forest. © Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.