For weeks and weeks, it burned – the largest wildfire in California history.
It devoured close to 459,000 acres and killed one firefighter who was among hundreds who came in from across the country to help put it out.
This week the Mendocino complex fire, which started in late July, is finally fully contained.
“The Ranch Fire is now 100 percent contained and the River Fire is 100 percent contained,” began a statement from the US Forest Service released Wednesday.
The Mendocino fire consisted of twin flames – the River Fire and the Ranch Fire. The flames ravaged more than 280 structures, 157 of which were homes, and scorched an area bigger than Los Angeles.
For the rest of the week, firefighters will be work to reduce erosion and monitor for fire activity.
“The forest is doing everything possible to reasonably reduce risks to the public and reopen areas but there is still a lot of restoration work to do,” the statement said.
Parts of the Mendocino National Forest will continue to be closed to the public until the end of the year.
As for what started this record-setting fire, the cause is still under investigation.
