The path of the Ranch (above) and River (below) Fires.

The Mendocino Complex Fire is now the largest wildfire in California history, burning nearly 300,000 acres along the Mendocino-Lake County border.

The wildfire, actually made up of two separate fires — the Ranch Fire and the River Fire — surpassed the 273,400-acre Thomas Fire yesterday, which devastated the Ventura area last year.

The Ranch Fire is by far the largest of the two fires, burning 241,772 acres. Calfire reports that as of this morning, the fire is 20 percent contained.

“The Ranch Fire remained active overnight expanding further north and east, continuing to challenge fire crews due to limited access, heavy fuel loads, low fuel moisture, and high temperatures,” Calfire reports on its website. “Today resources continue to be deployed to all areas of the Ranch Fire perimeter. On the River Fire we continued to increase containment and work towards tying in the remaining containment lines to Scotts Valley Road.”

While the Ranch fires continues to challenge firefighters in the north, firefighters have almost fully contained the River Fire burning to the south of Highway 20.

Calfire reports that as of this morning, the River Fire has burned 48,920 acres and is now 78 percent contained.

The fires have destroyed a combined 75 homes and 68 other structures since igniting on July 27.

The New York Times reports that despite the size of the fire, there are no confirmed deaths tied to the blaze.

Firefighters extinguish the smoldering remains of a home destroyed by the Mendo Complex Fire. | Photo by Culver City Firefighters