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The Oasis Fire is located south of Highway 20 and six miles west of Highway 16 in Colusa County, according to Cal Fire.
Officials reported that the fire had grown to 1,200 acres with 30-percent containment. Full containment is expected Friday. The cause is still under investigation.
Stacie McCambridge of Cal Fire's Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit, which is in charge of handling the fire, said one minor injury has been reported. In that case, a firefighter suffered a 2-inch by 1-inch burn to the face, and was being evaluated by a medic Tuesday evening. An abandoned trailer also burned in the fire.
The fire broke out Monday night and has been burning in steep terrain featuring brush, oak and grass, said Tammy Rossi of Cal Fire. She noted it's been a long time since that area burned.
On Tuesday, the battle from the air continued, with six helicopters and seven air tankers hitting the blaze with water and retardant drops, with a DC-10 also ordered, Rossi said.
In the afternoon, the fire jumped containment lines and went over Cache Creek, where it began burning on the creek's north side, according to reports from the scene.
Shortly before 7 p.m. reports indicated that firefighters were working on six hot spots, and that the fire had made several runs at the dozer line but the helicopters were able to knock it back.
Rossi said the fire was moving to the east toward Baldy Mountain, and was burning on Bureau of Land Management property, as well as land owned by the Payne Ranch, which also is the location of a firefighter camp.
Resources reported on scene late Tuesday included 680 Cal Fire personnel plus another 29 firefighters from local government agencies, BLM, Williams Fire and the California Department of Corrections.
In addition, there were 32 engines, 24 fire crews, five helicopters, 10 bull dozers, nine water tenders on scene.
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“We had incredibly good weather, lots of great activities and fantastic support from throughout Lake County,” said fair Chief Executive Officer Richard Persons. “Everyone had a good time and we got lots of very positive comments. The staff and volunteers are all tired, but planning has already started for another great run in 2010.”
Persons said they're still crunching the numbers, but it appears the fair was about even in total gate revenues and up in other areas, like the carnival and food sales.
He said preliminary carnival numbers indicated an increase of nearly 12 percent in ride revenues, largely driven by the free hour of admission offered on Friday evening.
“That one free hour brought in 3,087 people, and admission ticket sales the rest of the night were nearly average for a Friday, so everything else on the fairgrounds benefited from that bump in attendance,” he said. “Saturday saw nearly a 10-percent jump in ticket sales at the gate.”
The Lake County Fair does not release specific gate attendance figures, but Persons explained that he expected the final total attendance numbers to be up slightly, with many people taking advantage of discounted tickets that were available in the weeks prior to the event.
Once again, the junior livestock program was a main attraction for fairgoers, with the number of animals entered in the 4-H and FFA contests about even with 2008, he said.
Persons said there was a shift from the market animal contests into the breeding animal contests, which Persons said is good for the long-term health of the programs.
“Breeding animal projects require a longer term, more intensive commitment from the kids, which in turn encourages more involvement from their siblings and friends, and all of that leads to better knowledge and understanding of animal husbandry and agriculture in general,” said Persons.
Other animal attractions included miniature farm animals provided by Oops Ranch, an open goat show, and draft horse wagon rides from Eleven Roses Ranch.
This year's attractions in the main grandstand included an invitational sheep dog trials, the traditional demolition derby, mud bog races and the California State Finals of the WGAS Tuff Truck Races. The main grandstand arena was sponsored by Robinson Rancheria Resort and Casino.
“The motorized entertainment continues to pack the seats at Lake County Fair,” said Persons, adding “the sheep dog trials struggled to find an audience, which is too bad really. It's a fascinating and intense sport, and we'll be discussing the possibility of 2010 show, but it'll take some more intensive promotion if we go that way again.”
Local acts and attractions were the rule at the 2009 Lake County Fair, he said.
Entertainment on the Theatre Main Stage included local acts like the Hip Replacements, Side of Blues, the Mark Weston Band, Bill Noteman and the Rockets, the Bottle Rock Blues and Rhythm Band, and the Lake County Amateur Talent Competition.
The Enhance H2O Stage hosted Mike Wilhelm and Jim Williams playing solo guitar, the Carter and Chambers Duo, and the Kustom Cuts playing rockabilly.
Special appearances by magician Ken Garr, and Mickey the Clown were complemented by the performances by Chaz Marquette the juggling unicyclist.
“We want to thank all of the fairgoers, participants and sponsors of this year’s event,” said fair board president Janeane Bogner of Clearlake Oaks. “This event is truly a celebration of life in Lake County, and it takes participation from everyone to make it a success.”
The Oasis Fire, reported just after 6 p.m. Monday, is located near Highway 20 six miles west of Highway 16 in the Cache Creek Wilderness Area in Colusa County, according to Cal Fire.
The 700-acre fire was reported to be 15 percent contained, Cal Fire said Tuesday afternoon.
But reports from the scene Tuesday indicated that firefighters were having challenges, as the fire began to make runs in the morning that resulted in it jumping from the south side to the north side of Cache Creek and escaping containment lines.
Aircraft were being called in from Redding and Ukiah to help fight the blaze, officials reported.
At about 1:30 p.m. reports from the scene indicated that the fire was “progressing aggressively” on the south side of Cache Creek.
Cal Fire was requesting a California Highway Patrol reconnaissance flight to help with the effort, but availability was an issue, so other local government agencies with aircraft were being sought.
More updates on the situation will be posted as information becomes available.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: THE TWO 3.0 QUAKES MENTIONED HAVE BEEN DOWNGRADED TO 1.1 MAGNITUDE AND 2.8 MAGNITUDE, RESPECTIVELY.
LAKE COUNTY – The Labor Day weekend saw several sizable earthquakes occur around the county.
Before the weekend even got started, a 3.7-magnitude quake was reported in The Geysers area at 3:20 a.m. Friday, according to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's earthquake array.
Then, on Saturday, The Geysers saw two quakes measuring 3.0 in magnitude within eight seconds of each other.
The first 3.0 quake, which occurred at 1:48 a.m. at a depth of 1.6 miles, was centered one mile west of Anderson Springs, four miles south of Cobb and five miles east southeast of The Geysers, according to the US Geological Survey.
The 3.0 quake that followed it seconds later was measured at a depth of 0.6 of a mile and was centered in the exact same area one mile west of Anderson Springs, the US Geological Survey reported.
While no shake reports were made to the survey regarding the first quake, they received numerous reports on the second, with reports coming from Middletown, Covelo, Santa Rosa and Eureka to as far away as Santa Clara and Palmdale, the latter over 600 miles away.
Then, on Monday the US Geological Survey reported a 3.2-magnitude quake occurred near Lake Pillsbury at 1:22 a.m.
That quake, at a depth of 6.6 miles, was centered three miles east southeast of Lake Pillsbury, 16 miles north of Upper Lake and 19 miles north of Nice, the survey reported.
Only one shake report was received on the Pillsbury quake – it came from the San Francisco area, according to US Geological Survey records.
The last series of quakes to hit the county measuring 3.0 or above occurred early in July, when The Geysers area experienced five such quakes in just a few weeks, as Lake County News reported earlier this summer.
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THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED.
COLUSA COUNTY – On Monday evening a wildland fire broke out in an area of the Cache Creek Wilderness Area in Colusa County, not far from the Lake County line.
The Oasis Fire was reported just after 6 p.m. Monday, according to Cal Fire.
The fire was burning both in and outside of the Cache Creek Wilderness, in an area between Highway 20, Morgan Valley Road and six miles west of Highway 16, according to reports from the scene.
Several residents of south Lake County reported seeing the fire and the aircraft headed to it Monday evening.
Cal Fire estimated the blaze to be between 300 and 500 acres, with no containment reported late Monday.
No cause was given, but shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday firefighters reported finding an abandoned camp with food and a campfire that may have been the source of the blaze. Investigators are expected at the scene on Tuesday.
Cal Fire incident command said Cal Fire personnel and firefighters from Colusa County were responding. Scanner reports indicated Northshore Fire and personnel from Middletown also were going to the scene.
Ground units were having difficulty accessing the fire, which was being fought principally by air, with several helicopters and air tankers, along with and one fire air command on scene, according to fire observers with www.wildlandfire.com .
Firefighters had to access the fire from a Bureau of Land Management road east of Walker Ridge Road, according to reports. They also were staging at Morgan Valley Road and Reiff Road.
Six dozers were reporting to the scene, where they were being used to gain access for ground crews, build fire lines and go through a brush field. The dozers, which also were working in several areas, including along a ridgetop, were said to be making good progress early Tuesday morning.
Firefighters were trying to cut the fire off at the creek, and spent time burning brush patches throughout the early morning hours.
Reports indicated that fire camp was begin set up at the nearby Payne Ranch, and strike teams en route from Mendocino and Sacramento counties. A helicopter base was being set up in the area as well.
Shortly before 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, firefighters reported spot fires across Cache Creek. Engines weren't able to access the spots by ground, so they planned to start hitting the spots with aircraft Tuesday morning.
It was noted that the weather appeared to be working in firefighters' favor.
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The outage began at approximately 5:34 p.m. Sunday and lasted until 12:36 a.m. Monday, according to Pacific Gas & Electric spokesman JD Guidi.
Guidi said 569 customers were without power during that time.
A failed insulator led to the issues with the wire, which was reported down at 615 E. Highway 20, Guidi said.
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