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Lake County, Calif. -- Cal Fire reports that a section of Hwy 20 is currently closed in both directions from Hwy 16 at Bear Creek to Hwy 53 in Clearlake.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Officials have once again expanded evacuations due to the Rocky fire.
On Saturday afternoon, a mandatory evacuation order was issued for the Double Eagle housing development east of Clearlake Oaks and all areas east of the Cache Creek Recreation Area along the Highway 20 corridor to Walker Ridge Road.
Motorists should expect heavy traffic due to emergency vehicles and should stay away from the area.
As the fire moves towards Highway 20, expect road closures.
The specific areas under mandatory evacuation are Grizzly Canyon, Long Branch Drive, Lance Road, Cougar Road, Red Rocks, Meridian Road, Antelope Road, Mule Skinner Road, Flint Look Place, Moccasin Road, Roundball Road, Watertrough Road, Grigsby Canyon, Lucky Canyon, Remington Canyon, Walker Ridge, Walker Ridge Road, No Guns Road, Meriann Drive, Gibson Hill, Stemple Canyon, Harley Gulch, Stemple Canyon, Jack Canyon, Grizzly Canyon and Deadman Canyon.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The largest wildland fire in Lake County in more than a decade continued burning aggressively through the night, but several hundred new firefighters have arrived to join the effort to contain the blaze.
By Saturday morning, the Rocky fire jumped 4,500 more acres, reaching 22,500 acres in its destructive three-day run. Containment remained at 5 percent.
Two injuries were reported early Saturday, but Cal Fire did not offer specifics.
The fire's cause remains under investigation, according to Cal Fire spokesman Rick Frawley.
The terrain where the fire is burning is steep and rugged, with limited ground access. Cal Fire said the area has a limited fire history, meaning there is an abundance of vegetation to fuel the fire.
Cal Fire has set up a base camp at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Lakeport, where firefighting personnel and resources from around the state are headquartered during the incident. A helibase for the incident's planes and helicopters also is set up near Middletown.
By Saturday morning, more than 650 new firefighters had arrived, bringing the total number of personnel assigned to the incident to 1,951.
Resources on the fire on Saturday morning included 160 engines, 46 dozers, 37 water tenders, 28 fire crews, 19 helicopters and four air tankers, Cal Fire said.
Part of the firefighting force also includes two C-130J Hercules aircraft that the California Air National Guard’s 146th Airlift Wing mobilized to support firefighting efforts at the Rocky fire and other wildfires across Northern California.
The toll on area residents has been high, with hundreds still displaced from their homes due to mandatory evacuation orders, and thousands more facing the possibility they may have to evacuate if the fire's footprint continues to grow.
Frawley said he did not have a current number of total evacuees immediately available.
To date, 28 structures – 14 residences and 16 outbuildings – have been destroyed and two others damaged, according to the early Saturday report.
Cal Fire said 6,100 residences are still threatened by the fire. Frawley said that number takes into account both homes that are currently evacuated and those that may need to be as the fire grows.
Firefighters are working to protect those homes while also continuing efforts to build a line around the fire, Cal Fire said.
While the fire continues to progress, overnight firefighting efforts were aided by cooler temperatures and a westerly breeze coming in from the ocean, which Frawley said helped cool the ground.
The fire situation has prompted county officials to issue a proclamation of a local emergency, with Gov. Jerry Brown included Lake along with 14 other counties across the state impacted by wildland fires in a Friday state of emergency declaration that's meant to help bolster the wildfire response: www.bit.ly/1SrVxns .
The Lake County Air Quality Management District also issued an advisory due to concerns about the wildfire's impacts on conditions across the county: www.bit.ly/1VT65uZ .
Evacuations remain in place; others still possible
As the weekend began, mandatory evacuations remained in effect for Morgan Valley Road, from Bonham Road to Jerusalem Grade Road; Mustang Court; Bronco Court; Sunset Court; Bonham Road; Quarterhorse Lane; Sleepy Hollow; Jerusalem Grade Road; Spruce Grove Road (north); Noble Ranch Road; Cantwell Ranch Road; and for the Jerusalem Valley area east of Soda Creek.
Jerusalem Valley Road is closed to all traffic at Spruce Grove Road, officials said.
An evacuation advisory – in which evacuating is strongly recommended but not required – remains in effect on the east side of Clearlake, for all areas east of Highway 53 from Riata Road south of Lower Lake north to Highway 20, including Ogulin Canyon, as well as Double Eagle Ranch east of Clearlake Oaks and homes along the Highway 20 corridor between New Long Valley Road and east of the county line.
Evacuation centers remain open at Kelseyville and Middletown high schools.
The Lake County Office of Emergency Services has a prerecorded information line set up at 707-263-2360 and is posting updates to its Facebook page regarding evacuations and other actions taken by local government during the incident.
Sheriff Brian Martin, who was at the Cal Fire base camp late Friday, said his agency is asking evacuees under mandatory orders to leave their properties and not return until the all-clear has been given.
Unless the sheriff's office or the Lake County Office of Emergency Services tells you to go back, don't, Martin emphasized.
The reason for using such caution, he said, is evidenced in what occurred on the Wragg fire in Napa and Solano counties last week.
The fire suddenly flared up after some residents had been allowed to return to their homes, resulting in another mandatory evacuation being called.
There is also the matter of needing to assess safety of infrastructure such as roads, and damaged structures, according to Martin.
“We will let you know when it's safe,” Martin said.
He said the sheriff's office is working with Cal Fire to identify areas where evacuations are needed and patrolling evacuated areas to make sure that people stay clear.
Martin said sheriff's deputies also are providing an escort to Lake County Animal Care and Control staff as they go into areas to help evacuate animals.
Animal Care and Control has an around-the-clock animal evacuation center set up in the parking lot of the Lake County Department of Social Services at 15975 Anderson Ranch Parkway, Lower Lake.
Volunteers with Lake Evacuation and Animal Protection, which works with Animal Care and Control, have helped with hauling animals of all sizes out of the impacted areas.
All kinds of animals have gone through the center, according to Sara Schramm, Animal Care and Control's facilities manager.
She told Lake County News that some of the animals they have handled over the last several days include dogs, cats, goats, horses and even parrots.
Because of the need to concentrate resources elsewhere, some county facilities are closed, including Mt. Konocti County Park, the Highland Springs Recreation Area and the Ely Stage Stop and Country Museum.
The San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center also reported on Friday that, because of the Rocky fire, the Clearlake VA Clinic at 15145 Lakeshore Drive has canceled all non-urgent, routine medical appointments scheduled at the clinic for Monday, Aug. 3, and will contact patients to reschedule.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – County officials have issued an emergency proclamation in response to the growing Rocky fire, with the governor taking separate action on Friday to issue a state of emergency due to the wildland fires burning across the state.
Lake County Office of Emergency Services Manager Marisa Chilafoe prepared and County Administrative Officer Matt Perry signed an official proclamation by the director of Emergency Services declaring a local emergency Thursday evening.
The proclamation recognizes the danger the Rocky Fire poses to county residents, with an estimated 6,100 homes said to be threatened as the fire continues to scorch thousands of acres.
The signed proclamation may make additional resources available and provide certain powers to emergency management officials, the county reported.
On Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown issued a state of emergency proclamation in response to a series of wildland fires that began June 17 in 15 counties, including Lake.
In the proclamation, Brown ordered all state government agencies to assist the Governor's Office of Emergency Services in carrying out the state emergency plan, and ordered the California National Guard to mobilize.
The Lake County Office of Emergency Services is partnering with the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Coastal Region and greatly appreciates the state's support.
Lake County Office of Emergency Services, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., California Highway Patrol, Red Cross, Lake County Air Quality Management District, the Lake County Sheriff's Office, Departments of Public Health, Lake County Animal Control/Lake Evacuation and Animal Protection, Lake County Fire Chiefs, and Cal Fire are all working together to protect the life, property and safety of Lake County residents.
The Lake County Office of Emergency Services has a prerecorded information line for the Rocky fire set up at 707-263-2360 and also is posting information on the Lake County OES Facebook page.
MENDOCINO NATIONAL FOREST, Calif. – Mendocino National Forest officials are working to locate and contain several new fires that resulted from lightning strikes on the forest that occurred on Thursday.
The forest received more than 100 lightning strikes Thursday afternoon and evening across the forest, according to forest spokesperson Tamara Schmidt.
Schmidt said the forest so far has identified 10 fires, with most of them on the west side on the Upper Lake and Covelo Ranger Districts. The Grindstone Ranger District currently has one fire estimated to be half an acre.
Eight of the remaining fires are small – ranging in size from a single tree to two acres. Schmidt said progress towards containment is being made on the fires.
The Etsel fire on the Upper Lake Ranger District is the largest fire, estimated to be between 35 and 40 acres. Schmidt said the fire is located in the Yuki Wilderness and is burning in heavy timber and brush.
As dry conditions and hot temperatures continue, firefighters anticipate discovering more lightning fires in coming days, Schmidt said.
Forecasters also have issued advisories due to hazardous weather over much of Northern California – including Lake, Mendocino and other neighboring counties that include Mendocino National Forest land – due to concerns about the potential for thunderstorms in the higher elevations through Monday.
Schmidt said the forest is asking visitors to be aware of their surroundings and be prepared for changing conditions. This includes reporting visible smoke that could be from a wildfire.
To report a fire, please call 911.
As a reminder, the Mendocino National Forest is currently under fire restrictions. Visitors are asked to follow regulations and be careful with anything with a flame or that can throw a spark in the forest.
For more information about fire prevention, visit www.preventwildfireca.org/OneLessSpark/ ; for more information about the forest, visit www.fs.usda.gov/mendocino or follow the forest on Twitter, @MendocinoNF.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The smoke coming since Wednesday from the Rocky fire has degraded air quality over much of Lake County, leading officials on Friday evening to issue an alert for moderate to unhealthy air quality conditions over the coming days.
Smoke and haze from the fire has spread across much of Lake County, with ash falling in areas including the Northshore on Friday.
Weather forecasts indicate moderate to poor conditions which may result in regular smoke impacts for the Lake County air basin through the weekend.
The Lake County Quality Management District reported that air quality conditions on Friday ranged from moderate to unhealthy, with noticeable smoke intrusion and ash fall throughout the county. Ultrafine particulate levels are elevated into the moderate to unhealthy ranges.
Some areas may experience intermittent particulate levels in the hazardous range, depending on the weather conditions, the air quality district reported.
Those areas of particular concern include Clearlake and Lower Lake, which the district said have been heavily impacted, with air quality in the moderate to unhealthy for all ranges.
Hidden Valley Lake experienced air quality that was unhealthy for sensitive individuals, but has returned to the good to moderate air quality range, the district said.
Lakeport and Kelseyville are in the range that's unhealthy for sensitive individuals, with district officials anticipating air quality to return to the moderate range.
Most of the Northshore and Cobb areas have been in the moderate to unhealthy range, according to the the district.
Conditions changed quickly on Friday from good to unhealthy, and this may be the pattern for the next few days, the district reported.
The district said the air quality forecast for Lake County for the weekend is moderate to unhealthy for sensitive individuals, with localized higher concentration areas possible. All areas of Lake County may be significantly impacted should meteorological conditions worsen.
Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Tait advised area residents to be cautious in resuming normal outdoor activities.
“Variable weather conditions and ongoing fire activity may result in localized areas of reduced air quality, which could still pose health and where ‘pockets’ of poorer air quality may occur, it is prudent to be careful until conditions stabilize,” Tait said.
Smoky conditions can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and air passages, which can be hazardous in young children, the elderly, individuals with heart conditions or 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. 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.
Dust masks are not protective against the most harmful pollutants caused by wildfire smoke that drifts to nearby areas. They are useful in filtering out the ash and larger particles that are encountered in burn areas.
Air purifying respirators, such as N-95 filtering face pieces, may be effective in reducing harmful particulate matter, but also increase the work of breathing, can lead to physiologic stress, and are not recommended as a general protective measure.
The air quality alert for conditions that are moderate to unhealthy for sensitive individuals results from fine particulates in the smoke and the possibility of increased ground level ozone. These are generated when combustion products in the smoke combine with the high temperatures, sunlight and humidity. Other chemical reactions reduce visibility by forming secondary particulates.
Poor air quality, haze and particulate from the ongoing wildfires are expected to continue throughout Lake County through the weekend, officials said.