Dry lightning has brought an all-too-familiar destruction back to Trinity County and held up traffic on both of the roads to the coast. Highway 299 reopened to facilitate evacuations but is subject to closure at any time. Highway 36 is closed from White Rock Road to Highway 3.
The Monument Fire, initially called the Panther Fire, started Friday about a mile south of the Trinity River resort town of Del Loma. That community has received evacuation warnings on both sides of the river and both sides of Highway 299. It’s burning in the footprint of the 2008 Cedar Fire in extremely steep and inaccessible terrain. The latest estimate is 3,114 acres with zero containment.
To the southeast of that is the 7,485 acre McFarland Fire, threatening the town of Wildwood, which was ordered to evacuate Sunday night. The McFarland is 5% contained as crews have cut dozer line on the west side of the fire south of Highway 36 and on the east side from Middle Fork of Cottonwood Creek to Oliphant Creek.