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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – On Thursday morning Gov. Jerry Brown joined fire and emergency officials who are fighting the Rocky fire for a briefing on efforts to contain the blaze, which has already destroyed dozens of homes, forced the evacuation of thousands of residents and scorched nearly 70,000 acres in Colusa, Lake and Yolo counties.
“I think this is really a real wake-up call because of the way this fire performed,” said Gov. Brown. “We’re going to get ready – we have resources, we’ll need more, but you can be sure that the California firefighting personnel and all their different departments are ready and we’re going to do everything we possibly can.”
On Friday, Governor Brown declared a state of emergency in California in response to wildfires burning across the state.
On Wednesday, at the request of Cal Fire, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services tasked the California National Guard to deploy 367 more soldiers to help cut fire breaks in vegetation and offer other vital support to firefighters battling the wildfires.
The National Guard also will be building a temporary military bridge across Cache Creek at Highway 16, near the site of the governor's briefing, which will help bring supplies and personnel into the area more rapidly.
After Wednesday's National Guard deployment, there are now approximately 600 California National Guard troops actively working with nearly 11,000 firefighters battling 19 active wildfires across the state.
The Rocky fire alone has already destroyed 43 homes and 53 structures and outbuildings, officials reported.
As of Thursday morning, it had burned 69,600 acres and was 40-percent contained, with more than 3,600 firefighters assigned to the incident.
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – In light of the Rocky fire, the annual “Quilt and Fiber Art Exhibition” at Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum has been postponed.
The show was scheduled to open this weekend in Weaver Auditorium; however, in response to the fire, the show will now open with an artists' reception on Aug. 15. It will run through Sept. 5.
“In consideration of the Rocky fire conditions in Lake County, the show and reception dates have been changed for the annual 'Quilt and Fiber Art Exhibition' at the Lower Lake Schoolhouse Museum,” Sheila O'Hara, exhibition coordinator, said. “The museum is now closed and will reopen on Wednesday, Aug. 12.”
The artists' reception will be held from noon to 2 p.m. on Aug. 15.
Featured artists in this year's exhibition include O'Hara and her students. Sherry Harris and her students, as well as other fiber artists from throughout Lake County also will be participating.
Textiles from Guatemala and Peru, antique quilts and an 1807 spinning wheel will also be on display, according to O'Hara.
“Textile artists will discuss their work and there will be weaving and spinning demonstrations,” O'Hara said.
The Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum is located at 16435 Main St.
Regular hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
For more information, contact Curator Tony Pierucci at 707-995-3565 or email him at
Email reporter Denise Rockenstein at
LOWER LAKE, Calif. – The Konocti Unified School District and the Middletown Unified School District reported this week that, due to the Rocky fire, the start of school will be delayed.
School in the Konocti Unified School District had been set to start on Wednesday, Aug. 12, but now will start on Monday, Aug. 17, according to District Superintendent Donna Becnel.
In Middletown, new Superintendent Catherine Stone said all activities preceding the start of school as well as the school start date will take place one week later than originally planned, with the new school opening date set for Tuesday, Aug. 18.
The news came at about the same time as Cal Fire pushed its estimate on the fire's full containment back from Aug. 10 to Aug. 13.
Konocti Unified School District's schools include Burns Valley School, East Lake School, Lower Lake Elementary, Pomo School, Lewis School, Highlands Academy, Carlé Continuation High School, Konocti Education Center and Lower Lake High School.
In a message to parents and students, Becnel said the district has been in close communication with the Lake County Office of Emergency Services since Friday, offering support and resources and continuing to be on standby.
Becnel noted that the community has been on high alert since the fire started east of Lower Lake on July 29.
“Many of our students, staff and Konocti families have been under voluntary or mandatory evacuation and some will not have a home to return to,” she said. “We are hoping that many of the evacuation orders will be lifted sometime next week.”
Becnel said that in order to provide some transition time and minimize disruption to the school schedules, the first day of school was pushed back five days to Aug. 17.
“Next week we will begin working with the evacuation shelters to assure transition and support for those students who continue to be displaced at the start of school,” she said.
Becnel said transportation decisions will be made based on where students are located, with school attendance routes expected to be finalized by Friday, Aug. 14.
“We appreciate everyone’s understanding during this time as we work to accommodate the needs of our students, staff and families,” Becnel said.
The delays in the Middletown district will impact Middletown High School, Middletown Middle School, Minnie Cannon, Coyote Valley Elementary and Cobb Mountain Elementary.
Stone said that Middletown High School and Middletown Middle School currently are being used as evacuation centers and as the Red Cross Command Center.
“It is possible that some of our other schools will also be used as evacuation centers. Because of this, we made the decision to delay the start of school,” Stone said in a message to parents and students.
Due to the change in schedule, Middletown High School's welcome back for 10th, 11th and 12th graders will be held beginning at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 11, with the freshman welcome event to take place at 6 p.m. that same day.
Middletown Middle School's welcome event for seventh graders will be held at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12, and for eighth graders at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13.
Minnie Cannon's ribbon cutting and spaghetti feed will take place at 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13, with the Cobb and Coyote Valley spaghetti feeds set for 5 p.m. Friday, Aug. 14.
The change in the start date will push the end of school in 2016 back to June 6, the district reported.
“We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but we know you understand that these are extraordinary circumstances,” Stone said in her message to the district's families.
MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – As the Mendocino National Forest nears containment on the three fires from last weekend’s lightning, firefighters are preparing for storms predicted for the next several days.
Forest spokeswoman Tamara Schmidt said firefighters are continuing to make headway on the Etsel, Boardman and Deer fires.
The Etsel fire, burning in the Yuki Wilderness, was expected to be contained as early as Wednesday night. It has burned 32 acres so far and was 85-percent contained late Wednesday afternoon, Schmidt said.
The Boardman fire has burned approximately 95 acres and is 40-percent contained, Schmidt said.
The Deer fire, burning southeast of Lake Pillsbury, has burned approximately 100 acres and is 40-percent contained, with three structures still threatened, according to Schmidt.
She said two engine crews and one Type 1 hand crew have been working on the fire with the help of various air resources.
The California Fish and Game Commission voted 3-2 on Wednesday to ban bobcat trapping statewide.
Commission President Jack Baylis and Commissioners Anthony Williams and Eric Sklar voted in favor of a statewide ban.
Commission Vice President Jim Kellogg and Commissioner Jacqueline Hostler-Carmesin voted against it.
The Wednesday decision completely bans bobcat trapping in California, with the exception of depredation trapping.
The ban will become effective after approval by the state Office of Administrative Law and submission to the Secretary of State's Office.
The regulations may be effective before the start of the 2015-16 bobcat trapping season.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters made more steady gains on the Rocky fire on Wednesday, despite an uptick in wind activity and hotter temperatures.
During the course of its seventh day the fire grew to 69,600 acres, Cal Fire said in an early Wednesday evening report, a growth of approximately 2,600 acres since Tuesday night.
At the same time, containment rose to 30 percent, thanks to the force of nearly 3,500 firefighters – reported to be coming not just from around California but from across the United States – assigned the task of bringing the Rocky fire under control.
Gov. Jerry Brown is set to visit with fire and emergency officials on Thursday to get a briefing on the efforts to contain the blaze, which began on the afternoon of July 29 east of Lower Lake.
Since then it has burned close to Clearlake and areas east of Clearlake Oaks, and crossed into Colusa and Yolo counties, triggering mandatory evacuations or evacuation advisories.
Its most dramatic growth occurred during a five-hour period on Saturday, during which it scorched 22,000 acres.
Last week, Brown declared a state of emergency in California due to the numerous wildland fires – including the Rocky – burning across the state, as Lake County News has reported.
Cal Fire's latest count of structures that the Rocky fire has destroyed totals 96, with 43 residences and 53 outbuildings burned, and eight other structures damaged.
Cal fire said approximately 6,959 structures remain threatened, with all evacuation orders and advisories continuing to remain in place and shelters open at Kelseyville and Middletown high schools, and Upper Lake Middle School.
An animal evacuation center remains open at Lake County Social Services, 15975 Anderson Ranch Parkway in Lower Lake.
Highway 20 from the junction with Highway 53 to Williams in Colusa County remains closed, said Cal Fire, as does Highway 16 from Highway 20 in Colusa County to County Road 41 in Yolo County.
A host of 43 helicopters and 17 air tankers worked the fire on Wednesday, with air forces continuing to work the fire aggressively into Wednesday evening.
In addition to planes and helicopters, other resources committed on Wednesday included 3,483 personnel, 323 engines, 89 hand crews, 63 dozers and 43 water tenders, according to Cal Fire.
Cal Fire spokesman Rick Frawley said the weather conditions, overall, had been favorable for firefighters on Wednesday, with the fire not moving much.
“It's been relatively static,” he said, noting that the higher humidity was beneficial, with the wind behavior not appearing to offer any special challenges.
Crews on Wednesday concentrated efforts on both the northwest corner of the fire, on the portion north of Highway 20, and did support work on the southeast corner in the Jerusalem Grade area, Frawley said.
He said firefighters have been shoring up existing containment lines and working to extend containment on other sections of the fire.
“Once we get the line in place we want to reinforce it,” Frawley said, with firefighters incrementally working around the fire's perimeter.
Overall on Wednesday, “Our work efforts were very productive,” Frawley said.
Cal Fire has pushed back the date for when it's estimating full containment will be reached by three days – to Aug. 13.
Email Elizabeth Larson at