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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Mendocino Complex made a dramatic growth in size overnight, nearly doubling in size, which a Lake County official said was partly the result of backfiring to help control the fire.
Cal Fire said the fire grew from 30,500 acres on Sunday night to 55,987 acres by Monday morning, with 10 percent total containment.
That breaks down to 20,911 acres and 5-percent containment for the River fire, and 35,076 acres for the Ranch fire, also 5-percent contained, Cal Fire said.
Officials said the fire complex continues to threaten 10,200 homes.
As a result, numerous communities including all of Lakeport, Blue Lakes, Bachelor Valley, Witter Springs, Nice and Upper Lake remain under mandatory evacuation in Lake County, with Potter Valley and areas close to the fire on the Mendocino County side also under evacuation order, according to Cal Fire.
On Monday, Cal Fire reported that evacuation orders have been lifted and residents may return to parts of Hopland, including the Hopland Rancheria.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said the complex led to the evacuation on Sunday of the Lake County Jail in the north Lakeport area.
The sheriff’s office said it was assisted in that effort by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office, Alameda County Sheriff’s Office and Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.
Approximately 285 inmates were moved and are being housed in Alameda County. Lake County Correctional and Medical Staff are being utilized in Alameda County to care and oversee the inmates from Lake County. Officials said there are currently no accommodations for visitation of Lake County inmates in Alameda County.
The total number of structures the complex has destroyed so far was still given as six by Cal Fire on Monday, although there were reports that additional structures had in fact burned overnight and hadn’t been confirmed.
Lake County Supervisor Rob Brown said the fire jumped Highway 175 near Lakeport in a few areas overnight but it was contained quickly.
By the time he got up to the scene at around 5 a.m. Monday, he said firefighters had established dozer line around the fire on the Hopland Grade.
Brown attributed the large overnight acreage growth partly to a lot of backfiring firefighters did along Highway 175. “They did a really good job of cleaning that up,” he said.
Authorities are continuing to patrol the evacuated areas and on Monday reported three more arrests of people found in the evacuation areas.
In related fire news, officials are asking Lake County residents to conserve water to the absolute minimum, as local water systems are being challenged supporting local needs and the efforts to save our homes and communities.
Sutter Lakeside Hospital, Lake County Tribal Health and the Lakeview Clinic are all closed due to the mandatory evacuations, while Adventist Health Hospital and Adventist Health Clinics in Clearlake, Middletown and Kelseyville are operating as normal.
Those needing emergency refills and having nonemergency health needs are asked to go to one of the clinics as not to overwhelm the emergency department.
Lake County Animal Care and Control reported on Monday morning that the SPCA facility at 8025 Highway 29, just south of Kits Corner, has opened and will accommodate special needs animals, including seniors, those with medicals issues and heat-related stress. Space is limited, and only animals from the mandatory evacuation areas will be accepted. Separately, animal supplies will be made available at the evacuation shelters.
Air quality remained poor on Monday, with thick smoke blanketing areas along the Northshore. Smoky conditions are expected to continue while the complex burns, officials said.
A summary of incident evacuation and road closure information is below.
EVACUATIONS
MANDATORY
Lake County
• Western Lake County, west of Lucerne at Bartlett Springs Road and Highway 20, south of the fire, east of the fire, and north of the Lake-Mendocino County line to include the communities of Blue Lakes, Upper Lake, Nice, Lakeport, Witter Springs, Bachelor Valley, Scotts Valley and Saratoga Springs.
Mendocino County
• East of mile marker 5.6 on Highway 175, north of Highway 175, west of the Mendocino-Lake County line, and south of the fire.
• Potter Valley community; all areas north of Highway 20, east of the fire edge, to the
Mendocino-Lake County line, south of Burris Lane to MeWhinney Creek and east of Eastside Potter Valley Road, to include feeder roads utilizing Burris Lane east to the Mendocino-Lake County line.
• Highway 20 area from one mile south of Highway 20, east of Potter Valley Road, south of MeWhinney Creek, and west of Mendocino-Lake County line.
• Pine Avenue area of Potter Valley north of Burris Lane, east of Eastside Potter Valley Road, south of 10511 Eastside Potter Valley Road, and west of the Lake-Mendocino County line.
• Midmountain Road area, north of 10551 Eastside Potter Valley Road, east of Eastside Potter
Valley Road, south of 11385 Eastside Potter Valley Road, west of Mendocino-Lake County
Line.
ADVISORY/WARNING
Lake County
• Kelseyville, Finley and Big Valley Rancheria.
Mendocino County
• North of 8000 block of River Road to Yokayo Ranch Road.
• South of 8000 Old River Road, east of the Russian River, north of Highway 175, west of mile marker 5.6 on Highway 175;
ROAD CLOSURES
Lake County
• Highway 175, at Highway 29 to westbound traffic. (Lake Co.)
• Scotts Valley Road at Hill Road
• Elk Mountain Road at Rancheria Road
• Highland Springs Road at Argonaut Road
• Ackley Road at Highway 29
• Highway 20, westbound at Highway 29
• Highway 20, eastbound at Bartlett Springs Road
• Scotts Valley Road, at Highway 29
• Highway 29, at Highland Springs Road
• Soda Bay Road, at Big Valley Road
Mendocino County
• Highway 175, at Old River Road to eastbound traffic (Mendocino Co.)
• Burris Lane at Eastside Potter Valley Road
• Old River Road, at the 8000 block
• Pine Avenue, at Eastside Potter Valley Road
• Highway 20, at Potter Valley Road
• Elk Mountain Road, south of Pillsbury Road
EVACUATION CENTERS
• Mendocino College, Dance Room, 1000 Hensley Creek Road, Ukiah
• Mountain Vista Middle School, 5081 Konocti Road, Kelseyville
• Kelseyville Elementary School, 5065 Konocti Road
• Kelseyville High School, 5480 Main St.
• Lower Lake High School, 9430 Lake St.
• Twin Pines Casino, 22223 Highway 29, Middletown.
ANIMAL EVACUATIONS
Lake County
Large livestock can be taken to Cole Creek Equestrian Center, 4985 Steelhead Drive, Kelseyville, telephone 707-279-0915; or to Helen Owens’ A1 Horse Programs, 18585 Guenoc Lane, Hidden Valley Lake, telephone 707-355-0121.
Lake Evacuation and Animal Protection has been activated and is evacuating animals. Call Lake County Animal Care and Control from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. at 707-263-0278.
Mendocino County
Redwood Riders Arena, 8300 East Road, Redwood Valley is accepting horses.
Mendocino County Animal Care, 298 Plant Road, Ukiah is accepting small animals.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters, law enforcement, and local and state leaders were continuing their work on Sunday to protect Lake County from the destructive impacts of its latest wildland fires.
The Ranch and River fires, now combined into the Mendocino Complex, began burning Friday afternoon in Mendocino County before moving into Lake County.
The complex had grown to 30,500 acres by Sunday night, with containment at 10 percent and six structures destroyed.
With the fires threatening more than 10,000 homes, a series of mandatory and advisory evacuations have caused tens of thousands of Lake County residents to leave their homes as the fires bore down on Lakeport and Upper Lake.
As the fires continued to burn through thick vegetation, the smoke billowed into enormous columns in the sky.
In the case of the Ranch fire, reaching Upper Lake on Sunday, the column resembled boiling thunderclouds stacked on top of each other.
For much of the day, thick smoke obscured the sun, turning it a blood red, and at night, the moon turned bright red, too, due to the smoke-clogged atmosphere.
Air conditions prompted the Lake County Air Quality Management District on Sunday to issue an alert for “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy” conditions throughout Lake County with localized areas reaching “hazardous” levels due to particulate.
The River fire’s approach to the Lakeport, the county seat, and its full evacuation has had numerous impacts, including closure of the Lake County Superior Court, and county and city offices; the evacuation of Sutter Lakeside Hospital and Evergreen Lakeport Healthcare; temporary shuttering of the Lakeport Senior Center; as well as closure of numerous businesses.
The Ranch fire likewise has shuttered businesses and facilities, including the the Mendocino National Forest’s Upper Lake district, and the complex as a whole causing numerous road closures, including Highway 175 over the Hopland Grade and Highway 20 from the junction of Highway 29 to Highway 101.
Both fires also are believed to have been connected to the cause for power outages impacting thousands of people along the Northshore, officials reported.
More resources join the effort
As with other major wildland fire incident, this one has required the assistance of multiple units from around the region.
There were California Highway Patrol officers from Garberville guarding roads around Upper Lake, Clearlake Public Works personnel staffing the road closure on Lakeport Boulevard at Hamburger Hill, and firefighters from numerous communities around the state on the fire lines.
Cal Fire said nearly 1,400 firefighters are now assigned to the incident.
On Sunday afternoon, firefighters were working at a number of locations in and around the city of Lakeport and on the Northshore.
With Highway 175 over Hopland closed, fire crews were staged along the highway and working to stop the fire from further advancing toward the city.
Supervisor Rob Brown, who has been throughout the fire area since it began, said they had made progress that day on the fire’s progress along the highway, noting conditions also appeared to have improved because the wind conditions had changed and were more in firefighters’ favor.
Back down the hill, in the Sandy Lane area behind Lakeport, dozers were working the area and a firing operation also took place.
One dozer operator was reported to have been injured on the lines nearby and flown to an out-of-county trauma center.
Property owner Allen Keithly ran his own bulldozer throughout the day on Sunday to cut fire line while the fire crept through the grass nearby. He had refused to leave his land and decided he would keep working there instead.
At the nearby subdivision next to Westside Community Park, dozers had cut lines in vacant fields and equipment was staged to protect homes as flames burned brush on nearby hilltops.
Planes and helicopters flew over the city throughout the day, with the planes making retardant drops on in locations including along Scotts Creek Road, with dozers also cutting more protective line.
On Scotts Valley Road, residents were wetting down rooftops, trying to secure their properties and preparing to leave if the couldn’t defend their homes.
City officials issue emergency proclamation
With the exception of the firefighters, law enforcement and city officials, the city of Lakeport was deserted and eerily silent on Sunday evening.
Library Park was empty save for sets of this year’s Shakespeare at the Lake production which had been planned for this weekend but canceled due to the evacuations.
Across the street in City Hall, city officials were at work in their own incident command center, with the building being powered by generators due to ongoing power outages.
Lakeport City Manager Margaret Silveira, her department heads, police administrative staff and Public Works staff, as well as Clearlake Public Works Director Doug Herren and new Clearlake Police Chief Andrew White, were monitoring the situation.
State Sen. Mike McGuire was working his way around the county on Sunday, stopping to check in on Silveira and her staff as well as accompanying Brown to the fire scene and to visit some of the evacuation shelters.
On Saturday, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency due to the fires, and on Sunday night after McGuire’s visit the city of Lakeport issued an emergency proclamation due to the River fire, which resulted in a full mandatory evacuation of the city on Sunday afternoon.
County officials worked at a separate emergency operations center next door to the Lake County Jail.
Ranch fire advances; more shelters open
The Ranch fire, now the biggest of the Mendocino Complex’s two fires, was pushing closer to Upper Lake on Sunday night.
The fire was moving over hillsides near the junction of Highway 20 and Highway 29.
The Ranch fire had by nightfall advanced as far as an area off of Elk Mountain Road and Rancheria Road, on a hillside above Dewell Road Extension as well as an area near young walnut orchards. Brown believed the orchards would help control the spread of the fire.
The fire was giving off thick smoke and ash that clogged the air of the Northshore miles away.
Radio traffic indicated that the fire area off Elk Mountain Road was a primary work location for firefighters overnight.
Meanwhile, with thousands of people displaced from their homes, Cal Fire reported on Sunday night that five shelters were open for Lake County evacuees: Mountain Vista Middle School, 5081 Konocti Road, Kelseyville; Kelseyville Elementary School, 5065 Konocti Road; Kelseyville High School, 5480 Main St.; Lower Lake High School, 9430 Lake St.; and Twin Pine Casino, 22223 Highway 29, Middletown.
At the Kelseyville High School shelter on Sunday night, shelter staff reported that 57 people had checked in.
Cots were set up in the gymnasium, which was being cooled by large fans.
Some of the evacuees looked exhausted, others seemed bewildered and struggled to make themselves comfortable in the situation.
At Mountain Vista Middle School, another 75 to 80 people were sheltering, officials said.
McGuire talked with shelter managers about needs – such as snacks, coffee and baby formula – and coordinated with state Office of Emergency Services officials for delivery of items on Monday.
Cal Fire estimates the complex will be fully contained on Aug. 6.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKEPORT, Calif. – Police arrested a Montara man on Sunday night after finding him prowling around homes located in the mandatory evacuation zone in Lakeport.
Shawn D. Morrison, 35, was placed under arrest for prowling and unauthorized entry into a closed emergency area, according to the Lakeport Police Department.
Officials said that at 8 p.m. Sunday a Lakeport Police officer responded to the 1100 block of Page Drive on a report of a male subject, with no shirt, peeking into windows of residences that were vacant due to mandatory evacuations.
The officer contacted the male subject, identified as Morrison, who stated he was there to pick up some things from his aunt’s house, according to the report.
Through the course of the investigation, police said the officer determined Morrison did not live in the area and was aware of the mandatory evacuations.
Morrison subsequently was placed under arrest and transported to jail where his bail was set at $5,000, police said.
The Lakeport Police Department, Lake County Sheriff's Office and allied agencies – Clearlake Police, Ukiah Police and the Mendocino County Sheriff – are actively patrolling for unauthorized entry into evacuation areas.
Authorities said any unauthorized person who willfully and knowingly enters a disaster area and who willfully remains within the area after receiving notice to evacuate or leave shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Lakeport man arrested on Sunday in the city’s evacuated area was found to be illegally in possession of a concealed weapon.
Gregory Brunner, 32, was taken into custody on Sunday morning, according to the Lakeport Police Department.
At about 11 a.m. Sunday, Clearlake Police Officer Mark Harden, who was assisting the Lakeport Police Department and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office in patrolling the evacuated areas in and around Lakeport, conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in the evacuated area, police said.
Police said the driver of the vehicle, identified as Brunner, was found to have a suspended driver’s license. Bruner was arrested for driving on a suspended driver’s license.
During a search incident to arrest, Brunner was found to be in possession of a loaded Glock 9 millimeter handgun. Police said the serial number of the firearm had been damaged so that the number was not readable.
Brunner is a convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition. Police said Brunner was additionally charged with felon in possession of a firearm, felon in possession of ammunition, possession of a concealed firearm, possession of a loaded firearm in public, altering a firearms serial number, and entering a closed disaster area.
He later was booked into the Lake County Jail, authorities reported.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The growing Mendocino Complex continued to pump thick smoke into the air in Lake County on Sunday, resulting in another air quality alert from Lake County Air Quality Management District warning of seriously degraded conditions.
Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart said the air alert was for “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy” conditions, resulting from the heavy smoke conditions Lake County is experiencing and the forecast for extended smoke impacts, and impacts from other air pollutants in the smoke lingering in Lake County until conditions change.
Gearhart said current particulate levels are in the range from “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy” throughout Lake County with localized areas reaching “hazardous” levels.
The "unhealthy" levels of smoke are expected to continue through Monday. All areas may experience “very unhealthy” air quality, and individuals should take precautions, Gearhart said.
He said the smoke is expected to remain in Lake County through Monday, though air quality could improve if the winds shift.
Conditions can change quickly. Smoky conditions can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and air passages. These conditions can be hazardous for sensitive individual including children, the elderly, individuals with heart conditions, and those with chronic lung disease such as asthma, bronchitis, and other respiratory conditions.
Individuals with asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and other lung or heart diseases should carefully adhere to their medical treatment plans and maintain at least a five-day supply of prescribed medications. They should limit outdoor activity and unnecessary physical exertion while smoke is present. Air conditioning that recirculates indoor air should be used, when available. Drinking plenty of water to avoid drying of the airways is recommended, unless restricted for medical reasons.
If you cannot leave the smoky area, good ways to protect your lungs from wildfire smoke include staying indoors and reducing physical activity.
Wearing an air purifying respirator can also help protect your lungs from wildfire smoke. Air purifying respirators, such as N-95 or P100 filtering face pieces, may be effective in reducing some of the harmful particulate matter, but they also increase the work of breathing, can lead to physiologic stress, and are not recommended as a general protective measure.
Dust masks are not protective against the ultra fine particulate, which is the pollutant most detrimental to health caused by wildfire smoke.
With air quality forecast to be in the “unhealthy” to “very unhealthy” range, people are recommended to use caution, avoid strenuous activity, avoid outdoor activities, and reduce other sources of air pollution (such as smoking, use of aerosol products, frying or broiling meats, burning candles, vacuuming, etc.) and be prepared for rapidly changing conditions.
Localized areas of very unhealthy or hazardous air quality, regional haze, and particulate from these fires can be expected until the regional fires are fully contained and the weather pattern shifts to clear the smoke. Take appropriate measures until the smoke clears.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. (July 29, 2018) – Lake County is under a declared State of Emergency due to the Mendocino Complex Fires (River, Ranch).
The City of Lakeport and surrounding areas, home to many County offices, are among those under Mandatory Evacuation. Many County employees have been displaced by the fires, and our thoughts are with each evacuated individual, and all of those impacted by wildfire.
All County offices in Lakeport will be closed Monday, July 30. With the exception of those assigned to respond to the disaster, County employees stationed in Lakeport do not need to report to work. Those who are required to report to a different location will be notified by their departmental leadership.
At this time, all County offices are expected to reopen Tuesday, July 31.
“I am one of many County employees displaced, and am aware that many are attending to considerable personal, family and other urgent needs due to this disaster, and my sincere hope is that everyone will be safe and find appropriate shelter,” shares Carol J. Huchingson, County Administrative Officer.
“Our first responders are once again doing remarkable work in the face of tremendous challenges, and we are grateful for those efforts, as well as the contributions of so many friends and family members of those displaced.”
“I am proud to be part of the Lake County community,” continues Huchingson. “Ours is a community that binds together and responds in times of challenge, neighbors supporting neighbors. We will overcome this disaster together.”