LAKEPORT, Calif. – A fire that burned late Sunday night and into early Monday morning destroyed a barn and equipment near Lakeport, and resulted in a temporary power shutdown to an area that included city of Lakeport water wells.

The fire was located in a barn in a pear orchard on Scotts Valley Road near the Scully Packing pear shed, according to Lakeport Fire Chief Rick Bergem.

Cal Fire dispatched local fire districts – including Lakeport, Kelseyville and Northshore Fire – along with Cal Fire units just after 12 a.m. Monday, according to radio reports.

Bergem said the fire originally was reported by a REACH helicopter that was flying over the area and saw the fire.

When Lakeport Fire units arrived on scene, shortly after 12:15 a.m., they found the barn fully involved. They were able to contain it to the structure, according to radio reports.

The barn appeared to be one of the old hop barns, said Bergem, explaining that it was full of equipment – including spray machines, tractors and a walnut drying machine.

A nearby resident reported to Lake County News that they could hear explosions from the area of the fire.

“The building was a total loss,” with all of the contents destroyed, Bergem said.

Bergem said Pacific Gas and Electric Co. also was called to the scene. A power pole was on fire, a service drop came down – although main power lines stayed impact – and the main power line that runs through the area was impacted.

PG&E had to temporarily shut off power to the area, which Bergem said covers the city of Lakeport’s Green Ranch wells that supply its domestic water system. He said the power was restored a few hours later.

Bergem said firefighters cleared the scene at about 9 a.m. Monday.

Lakeport Utilities Superintendent Paul Harris told Lake County News that there were no issues for the city’s water system as a result of the short-term outage.

“The duration of the power outage was not very long so it had minimal impact to our water storage,” he said. “There was no sterilization requirements as it is normal operation for the wells to cycle on and off as needed for demand. The wells pump water to our storage tanks which sustain pressure to the distribution system utilizing gravity with elevation.”

Bergem said the fire remains under investigation.

“We don’t have a determination on origin or cause,” he said.

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