August Complex Fire: Trinity County orders evacuations in Post Mountain, Trinity Pines area

Note to readers: This story is free to all as a public service to our communities. 

Trinity County officials have ordered evacuations in the Post Mountain and Trinity Pines area of the county Wednesday night because of "erratic" fire behavior in the North Zone of the August Complex.

"Please take care and leave immediately," read a Facebook post from the Trinity County Sheriff's Office and Shasta-Trinity National Forest officials. "Emergency vehicles will be on the roadways conducting evacuations, fire suppression and structure protection in the area. Please use caution while evacuating."

What we know Wednesday about fires: North Complex now 6th largest wildfire

The evacuation area will be Hayfork Fairgrounds, according to officials. 

Highway 36 is still open as of 8 p.m., according to California Highway Patrol Dispatch.

Officials ordered the evacuations because the fire was moving north and had reached the top of Rattlesnake Ridge, according to Hannah Thompson-Welch, a public information officer with the August Complex North Zone response. 

Asked if the Hayfork area could become threatened, Thompson-Welch said it will depend on fire activity overnight. She said officials hope the fire stays south of Highway 36.  

She said people can get a sense of the fire's location via satellite data at a map on NWCG.gov, noting that map data can be delayed by about two and a half hours. 

The Trinity County Department of Transportation announced that all roads within the Trinity Pines subdivision were closed as of 6 p.m., including both county and private roads.

On Monday, the Trinity County Sheriff's Office announced the Post Mountain, Trinity Pines area was under an evacuation warning, adding that people with medical conditions or livestock which would take extra time to move should leave now. 

This story is breaking and will be updated when more details are posted by officials.

August Complex Fire map

You can zoom in and click on any fire in your area, including the August Complex Fire.

Can't see the map? Click here. 

Matt Brannon covers politics, the criminal justice system and breaking news for the Record Searchlight. Follow him on Twitter @MattBrannon_RS. Support local coverage and keep up with the North State for as little as $1 a month. Subscribe today.