Forest fires result in evacuations in Lake County and could be much larger

The fire season erupted on Sunday as the flames burned parts of northern California, including a 1,500 acre hell that ravaged Lake County, destroying homes and devastating communities devastated by monster fires.

Pawnee fire, fanned by dry, erratic winds, roared across the hilly backbone of eastern Lake County, destroying 12 structures and threatening 600 other structures.

The fire, which began Saturday night, rose from 450 acres to 1,500 Sunday morning, forcing the evacuation of the Spring Valley area, a community of about 3,000 residents in the northeast. of Clear Lake near Highway 20, authorities announced.

"Given the weather and changes in wind direction, the fire is moving in several directions," said Paul Lowenthal, deputy fire marshal of the Santa Rosa Fire Department.

These types of fires do not normally affect until late summer or fall, but Lowenthal said that the whole of North Bay is drier than normal for this period of time. l & # 39; year.

"I do not think any of us thought we would be here this season," Lowenthal said. "It's the last thing everyone wants to pass in. It has the potential to be much bigger considering the wind and the directions in which it is being pushed."

More than 230 firefighters battled the fire, which sent smoke plumes thousands of meters into the air. It was unleashed in the hills of oaks which, only a few years ago, had been blackened by fire and crackled through a grass so fragile that it creaked like glass underfoot. Firefighters used bulldozers to cut a fire break and dropped water and lagged from an aircraft.

Residents and several fugitive deer were evacuated on New Long Valley Road, the only street in the Spring Valley, as the flames licked the side of the hill. The American Red Cross has set up an emergency shelter at Lower Lake High School.

"Oh, look at this hill, I bet these flames are 400 feet tall," said Leona Demits, who was pacing up and down the front door of Spring Valley House, her friend, cautiously watching the orange glow along the ridge behind the House.

Demits and her husband, Galen, were temporarily staying in the house during a move to Redding from Fort Bragg, where they were more accustomed to rain and fog.

"Dude, I did not know you had to spend the summer half full," she said, smoking a cigarette and sweating in the 100 degree heat.

Rural Lake County has had its share of devastation in recent years. It was spared by the fires that ravaged its neighboring counties, Napa and Sonoma, last year, but the 4,000-acre Clayton Fire devastated much of the city of Lower Lake in August 2016, destroying at least 300 homes and businesses and forcing thousands to evacuate.

A year earlier, the Valley Fire, an area of ​​76,000 acres, killed five people and destroyed more than 2,000 homes and structures in and around Middletown, including the hot springs of Harbin and the center of resort of Hoberg. Firefighters said the most destructive fire in Lake County's history had been caused by poor wiring on a spa.

Large fires also raged in the county in 1996 and 2012.

"You do not think this will happen again, and then it continues to happen," said Jim Bolander, 56, as he struggled around his house Sunday afternoon. "Glad to have had this damn thing."

He and his wife, Cindy, were preparing to load their French Bulldogs and parrots, Scooby, into their trailer, which was already packed with their belongings, but many other residents were reluctant to leave.

"We watched the backyards turn into bonfires," said Santos Modesto, 49, who was sitting in a lawn chair at the end of the driveway with an energy drink, contemplating the situation.

Modesto evacuated his five children and took away valuable property after firefighters knocked on his door at 4 am, but he decided to stay and fight to save the house where he had lived for eight years.

"We said we were going to leave when the fire hit that ridge, and then he did it, so we said we would do it when he touched that ridge, and then it worked. we say we will go when he hits the house, "he said. "It becomes routine, it's the sad part, it's too traumatic to be routine."

Pawnee's fire was one of four big flames burning in northern California.

Further north in Tehama County, the 500-acre Stoll Fire and 3,000-acre Lane Fire also resulted in evacuations. Stoll's fire was contained at 40 percent after several houses and buildings were destroyed on Sunday. The lane fire was contained at 5% and no structure was destroyed. No injuries were reported in one or the other incident.

In eastern Contra Costa County, a fire broke out on Saturday near Antioch, burning six structures and 10 acres and sending two residents to the hospital, said fire officials. The fire, which broke out around 17:15. On Saturday, property burned at Deer Hill Lane and Deer Valley Road, about a mile south of the Antioch Kaiser medical building. It was contained early Sunday.

The flames ignited as forecasters warned of dangerous fire conditions due to high temperatures, high winds and low humidity. Red flag warnings have been issued all weekend for the East Bay Hills and higher elevations in Sonoma and Napa counties, among many other places in Northern California.

The causes of all the fires were under investigation.