August Complex Fire threatens Emerald Triangle, U.S.’s largest cannabis region

The largest wildfire in California history took aim at the largest cannabis-growing region in the United States on Monday.

The August Complex Fire, created when several lightning-ignited fires merged into a single conflagration, has cut a fiery swathe across five counties. So far, it’s blackened nearly 900,000 acres, more territory than the entire state of Rhode Island.

Now its westward march threatens the celebrated Emerald Triangle marijuana farming region, only a few weeks away from peak harvest time.

“There are thousands of folks that migrate into Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity counties every year, and they are not familiar with the territory let alone a massive wildland fire knocking at their door,” said state Sen. Mike McGuire per the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. McGuire represents the North Coast.

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