Normally, wildfires are named after nearby valleys or rivers. But this year, there are so many fires that many have converged into “complexes.” It's confusing.
The North Complex fire near Oroville in Butte County is now blamed for nine deaths, placing it among the deadliest wildfires in state history.The August Complex, for example, is actually made up of about 40 individual fires burning in and around Tehama County.
Indeed, what might be handy for firefighters managing a rapidly changing situation on the ground is not so handy for the rest of us. We won’t even talk about how long it took me to figure out what the LNU in “LNU Lightning Complex” stood for.As is known by most Californians who live in a fire zone , the social media platform has become one of the best ways to get real-time information from reliable sources, whether that’s from Cal Fire, the local sheriff’s department or journalists.
I’ll let Ventura County Fire Capt. Steve Kaufmann, the public information officer for the team on the ground in Butte County, explain why. “In the early hours, when the fire was pressing into Butte County, they were using terms like ‘Bear fire’ or ‘Bear contingency.’ We have completely renamed and taken the ‘Bear fire’ or ‘Bear contingency’ out of the equation to reduce the confusion. So going forward, it will be known as the North Complex, and when we speak about the fire that is directly affecting Butte County, it will be known as the North Complex West Zone.
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