flank. By September 21, a significant portion of the large, previously-unburned section of the Yolla Bolly-Middle Eel Wilderness between the North and South Zones had been burned over. In Trinity County, evacuation orders were in effect for the communities of Ruth, Forest Glen, Post Mountain, and Trinity Pines, as the North Zone continued advancing towards State Route 36. Additional crews were sent in an effort to prevent the fire from crossing the highway. On September 24, the North Zone was still holding south of State Route 36, in part due to back burning operations. However, the highway was closed to civilian traffic. On the South Zone, firefighters had made considerable progress halting the advance near Lake Pillsbury. On the West Zone, the fire continued to threaten Humboldt County. More than 2,000 personnel were assigned to the West Zone at this time. On September 24, members of the California National Guard were also deployed to the West Zone. The entire August Complex was at and 38 percent contained. September 28 saw increased fire activity on the North Zone, as the onset of a heatwave and Diablo winds drove the flames. The fire jumped north of State Route 36 and traveled rapidly along the South Fork Trinity River canyon. It also jumped west across Ruth Lake, burning towards the upper Van Duzen River drainage and Zenia. High winds blew embers as far as ahead of the active fire front. Structures and power lines were reported destroyed in the Ruth Lake and Hettenshaw Valley areas. Evacuation orders were issued in Trinity County from Ruth Lake and Mad River west to the Humboldt County line. Evacuation warnings were also issued for Humboldt County from Alderpoint east to the Trinity County line. On the South Zone, the fire held within containment lines at Lake Pillsbury, but evacuation orders remained in place in nearby areas of Mendocino and Lake Counties. On September 29, the entire August Complex had grown to , and was 43 percent contained. October On October 1, the August Complex had grown to , with containment increasing to 51 percent. On October 5, the August Complex had grown to , with containment at 54 percent, with the majority of the growth coming from the northwestern and northeastern flanks of the fire. This made the August Complex the first "gigafire" (a fire spanning over a million acres) in the modern history of California. Due