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UPPER LAKE, Calif. – Firefighters are close to fully containing the Saratoga Fire, which destroyed a home shortly after it began on Wednesday afternoon.
Cal Fire, which his overseeing the incident, rolled back its size estimate on the fire to 87 acres, with containment on Thursday night at 90 percent.
The fire began at around 4 p.m. Wednesday after a vehicle driven by 52-year-old Shellie Denise Boulais of Jackson crashed into a ditch on Highway 20 east of Scotts Valley Road near Saratoga Springs Road, as Lake County News has reported.
The California Highway Patrol said Boulais, who was taken to Sutter Lakeside Hospital for treatment of minor injuries, was arrested for misdemeanor driving under the influence.
Boulais was booked into the Lake County Jail, with bail set at $30,000. She remained in custody early Friday, according to jail records.
Northshore Fire Chief Jay Beristianos said the fire is located in the State Responsibility Area, which is why it's in Cal Fire's jurisdiction, however there was a multiagency response, with Northshore Fire and the US Forest Service also working on the fire.
He said quite a few structures along Highway 20 were threatened at one point.
One home, belonging to Leslie Humphrey, burned to the ground, Beristianos confirmed.
“The house was almost completely consumed by the time I got there,” he said, adding that Humphrey got away from the home safely.
Beristianos said Thursday afternoon that units already were being released from the fire as it was being brought further under control.
Humphrey, who escaped only with the clothes she was wearing and her cat, is staying with friend Claudine Pedroncelli in Upper Lake.
Her friends are asking for help in gathering donations to assist Humphrey. Those interested in donating or offering assistance are asked to contact Pedroncelli at 707-275-9030.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
