and Mendocino Counties, starting at least 13 fires. By 5:00 PM PDT, the Doe Fire in Glenn County north of Willows had grown to , and firefighters had arrived on the scene. Most of the fires were on the Grindstone Ranger District with one on the Covelo Ranger District, ranging in size from . Thunderstorm activity continued for another couple of days, igniting even more wildfires on August 17. On the morning of August 17, the Elkhorn Fire was ignited north of the Doe Fire and east of the Hopkins Fire, near Maple Creek, in Tehama County, which was separate from the August Complex at the time. By 11:00 AM PDT on August 17, five fires had been contained, while the Doe Fire had grown to . In addition, the Box Fire in the Snow Mountain Wilderness reached , and the Rockwell and Pine Kop Fires west of Elk Creek had burned and respectively. Aided by thunderstorm activity and strong winds, the fires expanded rapidly throughout the day, and more fires were discovered bringing the total to 20. Forest Service officials decided to manage these fires as one incident, the August Complex. On the morning of August 18, the Doe Fire was estimated at , while the Rockwell and Pine Kop fires were at each. The Box Fire had been mostly contained and held at . Over the next two days, hot dry weather and gusty winds caused the fires to explode in size. Additional fires were discovered, increasing the total to 35. By the morning of August 20, the fires had burned and were advancing downslope to the east. In Glenn County, evacuation orders were issued for parts of Elk Creek, Chrome, Burrows Gap, and Red Mountain, and an evacuation warning for Grindstone Rancheria. In the afternoon, the complex had grown to . All of Glenn County west of County Road 306 was placed under an evacuation order. On August 21, due to continued high fire danger, the Mendocino National Forest was temporarily closed to all public access. By August 24, two additional fires were identified, bringing the total number of new fires to 37 and overall acreage to . At this point, some of the larger fires had burned together. The Doe Fire absorbed the Rockwell and Pine Kop fires and was at . Firefighting efforts were directed largely at the Doe Fire and at the Tatham and