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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Several hundred firefighters continued working through the night on the front lines of a massive wildland fire burning across the south county.
Starting just before 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the High Valley Road area on Cobb, in about nine hours the Valley fire burned 25,000 acres in a path of destruction stretching down into Middletown and Hidden Valley Lake.
There was no reported containment on the fire late Saturday.
During the initial attack on the fire four members of Cal Fire Copter 104's crew suffered burn injuries and were transported to UC Davis Medical Center. Authorities said all four were in stable condition with second-degree burns.
Sheriff Brian Martin told Lake County News early Sunday that an estimated 10,000 Lake County residents had been impacted by mandatory evacuation orders issued by his agency.
Residents were ordered to evacuate homes in the communities of Cobb, Hidden Valley Lake, Middletown, Loch Lomond and Berryessa Estates, Harbin Hot Springs Resort, and on Highway 29 south of Clearlake all the way to Tubbs Lane in Napa County. Advisory evacuations were issued late Saturday for the Twin Lakes area near Lower Lake.
Early Sunday morning, Cal Fire said a new mandatory evacuation order had been issued for Butts Canyon Road to Pope Valley.
An advisory evacuation order also was issued at that time for the north side of the Napa County community of Angwin, Cal Fire said.
At 3 a.m., Cal Fire issued another advisory order – for Livermore Road and Summit Lake Road at the Napa/Lake County line.
Cal Fire said an unconfirmed number of structures were destroyed by the fire.
Martin said that he also did not have information about the extent of damage the fire had caused so far.
A video posted on social media showed burning homes and structures all along Wardlaw Street in Middletown.
Another video appeared to show an exploding building – reported to be a gas station – near Hidden Valley Lake.
The Lake County Office of Emergency Services said the Kelseyville Presbyterian Church at 5340 Third St. and the Napa County Fairgrounds at 1435 Oak St. in Calistoga opened as evacuation centers.
At about midnight the American Red Cross reported that the Highlands Senior Center at 3245 Bowers Ave. in Clearlake had begun receiving evacuees as well.
There also were reports early Sunday morning that efforts to set up additional shelters were under way, including one at Kelseyville High School.
Martin said the Napa County Sheriff's Office had reported that 400 Lake County residents were taking refuge at the Calistoga shelter. He did not have estimates of how many were at the in-county shelters overnight.
On social media, many evacuees reported that they had not gone to shelters but instead had sought refuge with family and friends.
More resources to fight the fire were being brought into the county through the night, with dozers staging to go into the fire area.
Road closures remaining in effect late Saturday included High Valley Road at Bottle Rock Road, High Valley Road at Highway 175, Highway 29 at Highway 175 in both Kelseyville and Middletown, Highway 29 at Red Hills Road and Highway 29 at Loch Lomond, and Highway 29 at Lower Lake.
California Highway Patrol Officer Kory Reynolds said late Saturday that Highway 29 at Spruce Grove Road was closed to all southbound traffic, while the highway northbound was open to evacuate the area.
Highway 29 was closed to all northbound traffic at Tubbs Lane in Napa County, and southbound was open to evacuate the area, Reynolds said.
Reynolds also urged people who don’t need to be in the fire area to stay out for their own safety, and to drive safely and follow the rules of the road.
“The last thing we need right now is a major traffic collision,” he said.
Due to the fire, power was cut to about 6,000 Pacific Gas and Electric customers in the Middletown and Hidden Valley Lake area, the company reported on its online outage center.
Authorities said the cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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