Updates on California wildfires.
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Updated: 5:04 p.m. Aug. 17
First discovered: 9 days ago, 4:08 p.m. Aug. 8
Initial location: east of Route 395 and south of Bringman Road, Lassen County, Calif.
Fire unit: Bureau of Land Management – Carson City District
Fire type: Wildfire
Fire name: Bug Fire
Bug Fire initially started at 4:08 p.m. Aug. 8 – east of Route 395 and south of Bringman Road, Lassen County, and is currently burning in Lassen and Sierra counties, California.
By Monday evening, it had burned 94,105 acres. As of Monday evening, the fire crew effectively contained 87% of the fire. At present, there is no information available on the cause of the fire.
Fire containment
This is what 87% containment means
Containment indicates what percentage of the fire perimeter has been surrounded by a control line. In this case, it means that 87% of the wildfire is contained from spreading, while 13% is still uncontrolled.
Containment is part of a larger plan for managing a wildfire. It is normally expressed as a percentage and it refers to how much of the fire perimeter has been surrounded/enclosed by a control line that firefighters create. The containment percentage indicates a certain level of control, but it doesn’t always correlate to safety level. Also, it’s important to note that containment doesn’t mean a fire is out.
How is containment measured?
The incident’s central command constantly receives progress reports from firefighters on the ground. As the fireline is constructed, inspected or reinforced, mappers record those details to adjust the containment percentage. The percentage tells the public how much of the fire perimeter is believed to not go beyond the control lines.
Source: Cal Fire
United Robots Sacramento
This story was originally published August 17, 2026 at 9:55 AM.