Fog and smoke in the skies again this Tuesday afternoon along California’s north coast — gloomy, surrealistic clouds with no direct sunshine today at all as the marine layer plays second-fiddle to burning trees.

Lake County continues to burn nearly out of control — even with some rain: ‘Cal Fire spokesman Jason Shanley says the rain will help a little but it’s not enough to quench the fire. Shanley says the fire “is just too big, too wild.”‘

(Illustration: ‘Forest Fire with Wolf,” by HeWhoWalksWithTigers, found here).

The Rocky Fire in Lake County, as of this morning, was 12 percent contained, but has already scorched 65,000 acres — a wild, huge beast of a fire.
According to CalFire:

The fire has crossed Hwy 20 in multiple locations and crews are working diligently to control the fire’s progression.
Firefighters are working aggressively to build control lines and sustain perimeter control.
Terrain is steep and rugged with limited access.
Resources continue to respond from in and out of the state.

And this frigging drought ain’t helping — via Capital Public Radio:

In the fourth year without normal precipitation, California is seeing another complication of the drought as crews work to contain the Rocky Fire.
“Now, the conditions are so dry across California and especially in Lake County, that’s what’s making it challenging for our firefighters,” says Daniel Berlant with Cal Fire.
“We’re now starting to see the fire actually create its own weather patterns. That means it’s actually moving in different directions despite how the wind is blowing. And that adds to the challenge for us and that adds to the erratic nature of the fire activity.”
Berlant says one way crews are working to contain the fire is with “firing operations.”
“Putting fire on the ground, a controlled environment, where we can actually burn some of the fuel before the actual wildfire takes it,” says Berlant.
“That really takes a lot of the punch out of the fire, helping to slow it down and giving us a bigger line for us to really take a stand and stop the fire.”

And the future continues…