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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With residents of the evacuated areas of Lake County waiting to hear if their homes have been damaged or destroyed by the Valley fire, officials said assessments are getting started.
The Lake County Office of Emergency Services said that teams began rolling out on Monday to assess the homes and structures, noting the assessment could take up to five days.
In the meantime, the Red Cross Safe and Well Web site can help people notify friends and family who are concerned for their well being.
You can list yourself at the Safe and Well website by clicking the "List Myself as Safe and Well" button at the Red Cross Safe and Well Web site, https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php .
If you need to search for loved ones you can click the “Search Registrants” button on the Web site to view your loved one's first name, last name and a brief message.
Evacuated residents that need to check on the status of pets and other animals can call Lake County Animal Care and Control at 707-263-0278.
If you have been evacuated and are in need of critical medication there are registered nurses and licensed mental health providers at all Red Cross and County of Lake operated shelters who can provide three-day prescriptions that can be filled at nearby pharmacies.
The listing of pharmacies, along with other resources, is available on the Lake County Local Assistance Center Web site, www.lakecountylac.com .
At this time Lake OES is assessing the need for volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering to help with the Valley fire you can register online with North Coast Opportunities at www.ncoinc.org .
Click on “Lake County Valley Fire Volunteer” under “Most Recent Opportunities” and then hit “Apply.” You will be contacted when a volunteer need arises that meets your availability and skillset.
For additional updates please follow Lake County OES on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LakeCountyOES and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/LAKECOUNTYOES .
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Salvation Army has deployed multiple canteens – or mobile kitchens – to the Valley fire.
Teams are on the scene to serve meals for first responders and evacuees in both disaster sites.
Canteens from various Salvation Army locations – Auburn, Napa, San Rafael and Santa Rosa – are in the affected area:
· Kelseyville High School, 5480 Main St.
· Clearlake Senior Center, 3245 Bowers Ave.
· Clearlake Walmart, 15960 Dam Road.
· Napa County Fairgrounds, 1435 N Oak St, Calistoga.
So far, more than 900 meals have been served, the Salvation Army reported.
Along the meal service, the Salvation Army also will provide emotional and spiritual care to residents seeking that assistance.
Monetary donations are only needed at this time. The Salvation Army uses 100-percent of disaster donations in support of local disaster relief operations.
To give, visit www.gosalarmy.org or call 1-800-SAL-ARMY (1-800-725-2769) and designate “Northern California Fires.”
Donations by mail may be designated “Northern California Fires” and sent to: The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 348000, Sacramento, CA 95834.
In-kind donations are not currently being accepted outside the disaster area. However, these gifts are vitally important to your local Salvation Army.
To give items locally, visit www.SATruck.com or call 1-800-SA-TRUCK.
ACCUWEATHER GLOBAL WEATHER CENTER – AccuWeather reports after a week of relentless heat across the West, a much-needed cooldown is on the horizon.
A trough of low pressure is expected to dive into the western half of the United States this week sending a much-cooler air mass into the region, one that will drop high temperatures 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit in most places when compared to this past week.
While temperatures will end the weekend on a warm note, the majority of the West will experience some form of cooldown by the middle of this week.
“Cooler weather will spread south across the West through Tuesday,” AccuWeather Meteorologist Alyson Hoegg said.
Folks in Seattle; Sacramento; Los Angeles; San Diego; Boise, Idaho; Missoula, Montana; Salt Lake City; and areas in between will all see a temperature drop through Wednesday.
“Cities along the I-5 corridor, such as Seattle, Portland, and Medford, Oregon, will see daytime highs similar to those of mid-October,” Hoegg said.
California, devastated with wildfires, will get some relief. Thermometers that read in the 100s across the Central Valley are expected to read in the lower 80s, certainly a noticeable and welcome change.
Last week and this week will have quite the contrast in the West, with temperatures dipping below average for the first time since the beginning of September in some locations.
Exceptional drought and the recent stretch of scorching heat has caused problems, including turning California into a tinder box.
Many fires are currently raging across the state, including the Butte fire, which exploded in growth early on Friday, and the Valley fire, which began on Saturday afternoon.
The Valley Fire began on Saturday afternoon and had burned 62,000 acres and 10-percent contained by Monday night. Mandatory evacuations were in place for parts of Napa and Lake counties.
Four firefighters were sent to the hospital Saturday with second-degree burns, according to Cal Fire.
According to the USDA Forest Service, 40 large fires are currently burning across the West. Five states are dealing with these dangerous blazes and they include California, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.
The Rough fire east of Fresno is threatening to sweep through an ancient grove of Giant Sequoia trees, according to the Associated Press. This lightning-caused fire is only at 36 percent containment as of late Sunday as firefighters rush to get it under control.
While the weekend will end warm, the drop in temperature this week will help firefighters battling the blaze in some ways, but also could hurt efforts in other ways.
The unsettled weather may bring some rain to parts of the West, although thunderstorms could cause more wildfire problems due to lightning.
“Anytime a cold front pushes through the west during the fire season, problems ensue,” AccuWeather Meteorologist and firefighter Evan Duffey said.
Duffey noted that cold fronts usually bring stronger and sometimes unpredictable winds that could rapidly spread fire, making it hard for incident managers to position teams.
Jordan Root is a meteorologist for www.AccuWeather.com .
LAKEPORT, Calif. -- The Lake County Office of Education reports there will be some school closures this week due to the Valley Fire.
According to LCOE, to ensure the safety of students, families, teachers and staff all Lake County public schools will be closed on Tuesday, September 15.
Middletown Unified School District, Konocti Unified School District and Kelseyville Unified School District will remained closed for the rest of the week.
Due to the devastation in the Middletown and Cobb area, it is unknown when Middletown schools will reopen.
Lakeport, Upper Lake, and Lucerne schools are scheduled to reopen on Wednesday, September 16 unless there are significant changes to the emergency situation.
LCOE will provide updates as conditions change and extends gratitude to firefighters, emergency personnel and all first responders.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Valley fire has made another run on acreage, with authorities also confirming on Monday that the fire has claimed its first human life.
Cal Fire said that the fire – burning since Saturday afternoon across the south county, and into Napa and Sonoma counties – had reached 61,000 acres by Monday, with 5 percent containment.
Thousands of county residents remain under evacuation due to the fire, and Cal Fire said approximately 9,000 structures are threatened.
Cal Fire also reported that several hundred structures have been destroyed, including 400 homes.
Five injuries also have been reported, according to Cal Fire.
Monday also brought with it the confirmation from the Lake County Sheriff's Office that an elderly, disabled woman unable to evacuate from her home had died in the fire.
Lt. Steve Brooks said the sheriff's Central Dispatch had received the first report of the Valley fire at approximately 1:22 p.m. on Saturday. Cal Fire asked for the sheriff's office to start emergency evacuates at exactly 1:50 p.m., and deputies immediately responded to begin helping people from their homes.
At that time, the sheriff’s dispatch center started to become flooded with calls reporting the fire, and citizens asking for assistance with evacuations. Brooks said those calls also included family members who were requesting law enforcement to check on relatives believed to be in the fire area.
He said both fire and law enforcement first responders reported to numerous requests for evacuation assistance in the Cobb and Loch Lomond areas. Hundreds of homes were evacuated during the first few hours.
A phone call for a request to assist an elderly, disabled female at a residence on Hot Springs Road came into Central Dispatch at 7:12 p.m. Saturday. Brooks said that just before 7:30 p.m. officers and deputies responded to the area, but were unable to reach the subdivision as it had already been engulfed by flames.
He said the woman was apparently unable to get out of the home on her own and responders couldn't make it to her home before the fire engulfed the structure.
After the fire subsided enough for crews to respond, personnel arrived at the burned down residence on Hot Springs Road to find the remains of a deceased person, he said.
The woman's identity is being withheld until positive identification and next of kin notification can be made.
“The sheriff’s office and all first responders express their condolences to those who have been affected by this disaster,” Brooks said. “We are hopeful that the fire does not claim any more lives.”
On Monday Assemblyman Bill Dodd (D-Napa), whose district includes Lake County, thanked first responders and concerned citizens for helping with the response.
“Our region has been particularly impacted by wildfires this season, and the recent Valley fire is the worst in our recent history,” he said.
California Highway Patrol Officer Kory Reynolds told Lake County News that closures of Highway 29 in and around the fire area remain in effect for the general public, including evacuees.
Reynolds said that Highway 29 from Live Oak Drive in Kelseyville to Lower Lake is closed, as is Highway 29 from the Highway 53 intersection in Lower Lake to Tubbs Lane in Napa County. These closures are being enforced and Reynolds said people will not be let through.
Other road closures resulting from the fire include Highway 29 at Bottle Rock Road, Highway 29 at Highway 175 in Kelseyville, Highway 29 at Red Hills Road, Highway 29 at Highway 281, Butts Canyon Road at Aetna Springs Road.
Mandatory evacuations remaining in effect cover the entire communities of Cobb, Hidden Valley Lake, Loch Lomond, Middletown and Seigler Canyon, Clear Lake Riviera and Riviera West; the intersection of Highway 29 to Highway 281; north on Highway 281 to the intersection of Soda Bay Road and Riviera West Drive; all roads off of Soda Bay Road south of the intersection of Riviera West Drive; Bottle Rock Road, High Valley Road, Highway 175/Cobb, Point Lakeview Road to Highway 281;
Highway 29/Highway 53 in Lower Lake to Highway 29 at Tubbs Lane in Calistoga in Napa County; Butts Canyon Road to the Napa County line, including Berryessa Estates; and Butts Canyon Road to Pope Valley, according to Cal Fire.
Advisory evacuations also are in effect for Soda Bay Road and Riviera West Drive, the Riviera West subdivision, Pine Flat Road (addresses 5000 and above), Geysers Road out of Healdsburg (addresses 6000 and above) and Geysers Road out of Geysers Road (addresses 9400 and above), Cal Fire said.
The Lake County Air Quality Management District reported Monday afternoon that air quality – which has been heavily impacted by smoke from the fire was improving across the county.
The report said that air quality levels in Lake County are “good” in most areas, compared to the “unhealthy” and “hazardous” levels on Sunday.
However, the district urged residents to be aware of rapidly changing conditions that could cause conditions to suddenly worsen.
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Vehicles and structures were destroyed on Summit Drive in Cobb, Calif., as a result of the Valley fire. Photographed Sunday, September 13, 2015. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Thousands more burned acres, additional evacuations, the first damage assessments and the report of a death in the fire area were among the latest developments on Sunday arising from the devastating Valley fire that has swept through Lake County.
Daylight on Sunday brought a clearer picture of the devastation wrought by the Valley fire, which was sparked on Saturday afternoon on High Valley Road in Cobb before burning into Middletown and Cobb.
By day's end, Cal Fire's damage assessments had revealed that 400 homes had been destroyed by the fire – which at that point was 50,000 acres with no containment – and an unknown number of other types of structures also burned.
There also was a report of a civilian fatality in the fire area that Cal Fire said law enforcement is investigating.
On Sunday morning, Gov. Jerry Brown issued declared a state of emergency for Lake County because of the fire, as Lake County News has reported.
The fire resulted in an estimated 10,000 people being evacuated by early Sunday, with thousands more evacuated from the Clear Lake Riviera and Riviera West later on Sunday morning.
Fire conditions prompted all of Lake County's public schools to close on Monday, citing the priority of keeping students, families, teachers and staff safe, according to the Lake County Office of Education.
Destroyed structures on Wardlaw Street in Middletown, Calif., that were burned by the Valley fire. Photographed Sunday, September 13, 2015. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News.
The sky over Lake County continued to be darkened with a heavy gray haze due to the fire's smoke, which for much of the day had an almost twilight appearance.
The smoky conditions prompted the Lake County Air Quality Management District to issue an air quality alert of hazardous air conditions.
Conditions from Sunday afternoon into Monday were reported to be unhealthy or hazardous, according to Air Pollution Control Officer Doug Gearhart.
“With the size of this fire, all areas of Lake County are affected by these conditions,” Gearhart said.
Areas closer to the fires may experience hazardous or worse air quality due to the high levels of fine particulates from the smoke, Gearhart said.
With so many people evacuated from their homes and dispersing to shelters or the homes and families and friends, there was confusion and rampant speculation about the extent of the damage in the communities where the fire burned.
An apartment complex on Highway 175 at Barnes Street in Middletown, Calif., was burned by the Valley fire. Photographed Sunday, September 13, 2015. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News.
A drive through the fire area on Sunday offered a glimpse of how much damage the fire had done, but it also make clear what areas of the south county had survived the fire.
Highway 29 between Lower Lake and Hidden Valley Lake had spots of fire burning alongside of it on hillsides and in trees.
Closer in to Hidden Valley Lake and Middletown, there were sagging and burning power lines, transformers hanging by lines and broken poles.
Along the highway, no active flames were seen on Sunday afternoon in the Hidden Valley Lake area. Earlier in the day, radio reports had indicated that officials were letting in Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District staff to turn back on the community's water hydrants.
At least a half-dozen burned out vehicles were to be seen along the highway between Hidden Valley Lake and Middletown.
Along Highway 175 from Middletown to Cobb, a dead sorrel horse laid on the roadside, where it appeared to have been hit. A man was crouching over it, taking pictures.
In Middletown itself, the downtown appeared largely undamaged except for a florist's shop.
The historic main lodge of Hoberg's Resort in Cobb, Calif., was destroyed by the Valley fire on Saturday, September 12, 2015. Photographed Sunday, September 13, 2015. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News.
The campuses at Middletown High School and Minnie Cannon Elementary appeared unharmed, and the Lake County International Charter School was unscathed, standing across from the historic Middletown United Methodist Church, which also was undamaged.
However, the residential areas a few blocks on either side of the downtown and Highway 29 had widespread damage.
In some areas, blocks of homes were all right, in other areas, such as Wardlaw at Jackson, numerous homes were reduced to haunting, smoky, jagged ruins.
From Middletown to Cobb, the damage also was substantial, with homes along Highway 175 burned, and trees and power poles also damaged and leaning or falling along the roadway.
The damage off the highway appeared to lessen in areas such as Maple Shadows and Whispering Pines, and in Cobb there was good news – the business district appeared unscathed.
Hardester's Market, the Brick Oven, the Village Pub, the post office and fire station, Mountain High Coffee, the gas station and a host of other businesses in the area were still standing.
Down the road, Cobb Elementary School also had been spared.
And then there was Hoberg's Resort, its historic main lodge – which over the last several years had been undergoing renovation – burned to the ground.
Gretchen Wildman and her dog, Daisy, waited at Kit's Corner in Kelseyville, Calif., on Sunday, September 13, 2015, after having been evacuated due to the Valley fire earlier in the day. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News.
Plumes of smoke still rose off of the pile of ash and stone that had once been a premier Northern California resort, hosting the likes of actor Clark Gable, musician Tommy Dorsey and a line of California governors.
“My prayers go out to everyone in Lake County who has lost their homes. The historical Hoberg's Resort is no longer and all of us who spent years in planning and developing the resort for a grand opening beginning of next year are devastated by its loss,” Dan Nelson, the resort’s vice president, told Lake County News.
“We are dedicated to rebuilding Hoberg's and providing Lake County and Cobb Mountain with a new resort that everyone can be proud of in the future,” Nelson said.
Across the highway from the resort, homes had burned, and further down the highway homes on Summit and Sugar Pine drives were destroyed.
Loch Lomond fared better, with the Loch Lomond Roadhouse, the nearby firehouse and other buildings intact.
The area from Loch Lomond down to Highway 29 also appeared undamaged.
On Highway 29 at Highway 281, the intersection was controlled traffic.
Sheriff's deputies and California Highway Patrol officers were staged in the area throughout the day following the evacuations of the Rivieras earlier in the day.
Lt. Chris Chwialkowski of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said the Valley fire at that point had not moved into the Rivieras, but instead was staying in the area of Seigler Mountain.
Due to the possibility that the fire could reach the Rivieras, he said it had been important to get residents out of the area ahead of time, otherwise it could have been chaotic trying to move so many people out in a short period of time.
“It flowed out of here really nice,” he said of the traffic.
Gretchen Wildman and her husband, Darryll Fletcher, were among those evacuated that morning.
Wildman said she was awakened by a phone call from her sister, telling her they needed to evacuate.
“That's when I heard the sheriffs,” she said, recounting sheriff's deputies driving through the neighborhoods with a PA system to tell residents they needed to leave their homes.
She said they grabbed their dog Daisy and some belongings and left, ending up spending much of the day at Kit's Corner.
Wildman said Sunday evening they were planning to stay there as long as they could. “We're just going to wait it out and see when we can go home.”
Scott Freeman of Ukiah, Calif., and his dog, Buddy, came to Kelseyville, Calif., on Sunday, September 13, 2015, to help evacuate community members forced to evacuate earlier that day due to the Valley fire. Photo by Elizabeth Larson/Lake County News.
Nearby, Ukiah resident Scott Freeman said he had waited for several hours to see if he could help evacuate area residents.
Freeman said he didn't know anyone living in the Rivieras, but had come over to offer his assistance.
He brought with him his pickup, a trailer, water and his dog, Buddy.
Chwialkowki said the sheriff's deputies who had been staged at Kit's Corner on Sunday were preparing to move to a command post at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Lakeport, where he said Cal Fire, the Lake County Office of Emergency Services and other agencies would be stationed.
Cal Fire said resources assigned to the fire on Sunday included 1,448 personnel, 157 engines, 53 water tenders, 40 hand crews, 16 dozers, 10 helicopters and four air tankers.
As of late Sunday night, evacuations remained in effect for Bottle Rock Road, High Valley Road, Highway 175 in Cobb, Highway 29 from Tubbs Lane in Napa County to the intersection of Highway 29 and Highway 53 in Lower Lake, Butts Canyon Road to the Napa County line including Berryessa Estates, as well as the communities of Cobb, Seigler Canyon, Loch Lomond, Middletown and Hidden Valley Lake.
Road closures remained in effect for Highway 29 at Bottle Rock Road, Highway 29 at Highway 175 in Kelseyville, Highway 29 at Red Hills Road, and Highway 29 from the intersection with Highway 53 in Lower Lake to Tubbs Lane in Calistoga.
In response to the fire, county officials have launched an online fundraising campaign to help those affected by the fires. Donations can be made at http://www.lakecountylac.com/donate-now.html .
Email Elizabeth Larson at