Crews getting control of colossal California fire that's torched 300K acres

Aug. 8 (UPI) -- The largest fire in California history grew even larger Wednesday, but crews are getting more control over it, authorities said.

The Mendocino Complex Fire -- which actually is made of two fires, the Ranch and River fires -- has now burned through more than 300,000 acres, Cal Fire said in an update Wednesday.

The fire grew by nearly 10,000 acres since the last update Tuesday night.

The blaze has grown into the largest in the state's history, and crews have until only recently struggled to get a handle on it. Crews now have it nearly half contained.

The Mendocino Fire has injured two firefighters and destroyed 221 structures, including 116 homes. It's damaged another 12 homes and 15 other structures, officials said, and threatened more than 10,000 more. Officials expect it to be fully contained by Sept. 1.

Mandatory evacuations remain in effect for areas in Lake, Colusa and Mendocino counties.

Officials said Sutter Lakeside Hospital, which was forced to close, should be reopened by the end of this week. Patients there were forced to flee as the fire spread to surrounding areas. Some staff stayed behind to protect medicine and equipment.

"I ate here, slept here, dressed in scrubs for clean clothes for about a week," Dan Peterson, the hospital's chief administrative officer, told KCRA-TV. "It's a really important part of the community. We don't have a ton of hospitals in the county."

The state is also still battling several other fires as shifting winds and dry weather exacerbate conditions. More than a dozen wildfires have scorched over 619,000 acres and 2,000 structures, displacing 36,000 people, the Los Angeles Times reported.

As devastating as the fires have been, some say it could be a lot worse.

"No matter where you live, there's always some form of catastrophe," Lake County evacuee Larry Wiedey said. "It is what it is."