LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday afternoon issued an evacuation advisory notice for the Lake Pillsbury Basin area due to fire activity in nearby Mendocino County.

Lt. Corey Paulich said this advisory was issued due to fire activity related to the Mendocino County Complex burning in Redwood and Potter valleys.

Paulich said residents should only use Elk Mountain Road while leaving the area.

Communication in the Pillsbury Basin is limited and the sheriff’s office is asking residents if they have contact with anyone in that area to please pass this information on to them, Paulich said.

Do not go to the area to deliver this information. Paulich said the sheriff's office will be sending personnel to the area to make the notifications.

An evacuation advisory is not a mandatory evacuation, but it is strongly recommended, Paulich said.

Residents are advised to gather their medications, pets and important papers. Paulich said residents should be prepared to leave the area with little notice.

If the situation worsens the sheriff’s office will issue a mandatory evacuation notice, Paulich said.

Anyone who is evacuating and in need of shelter can go to the evacuation shelter at the Seventh-day Adventist Church located at 1111 Park Way in Lakeport.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday morning issued an advisory evacuation notice for residents in the Middletown area due to the approach of the Tubbs fire.

The sheriff's office is currently monitoring fire activity from the Tubbs fire in Napa County and the agency said it has become necessary to issue an advisory notice due to the fire’s proximity.

An evacuation advisory is not a mandatory evacuation, but it is strongly recommended.

Residents are advised to gather their medications, pets and important papers, and should be prepared to leave the area with little notice.

If the situation worsens the sheriff’s office will issue a mandatory evacuation notice.

Cal Fire said the Tubbs fire, which began late Sunday night, has so far burned 28,000 acres and more than 570 homes.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters tripled the amount of containment on the Sulphur fire on Tuesday, with some residents of the city of Clearlake allowed to return to their homes on Tuesday night.

Cal Fire said the Sulphur fire, burning since early Monday in and around Clearlake Oaks and Clearlake, remained at 2,500 acres, with containment up to 30 percent.

The growing containment allowed city of Clearlake officials allowed to lift some of the mandatory evacuations in effect in the city since Monday, as Lake County News has reported.

City, county and fire officials on Tuesday began the process of assessing damage due to the fire.

Sheriff Brian Martin said he did not yet have firm numbers, but estimated as many as 150 homes were destroyed by the fire, with most of burned structures in the city of Clearlake.

One area where the damage was reported to be minimal is the Elem Indian Colony in Clearlake Oaks, near where the fire had started shortly before 1 a.m. Monday.

None of the more than 20 homes on the tribe’s 80-acre rancheria were damaged, according to a statement from the tribe on Tuesday. 

City officials also held another town hall on Tuesday night to answer questions and share information.

At that point, Clearlake Mayor Russ Perdock said there had been no loss of life due to the fire.

Elsewhere around the region, the fire-related death toll grew.

The Sonoma County Coroner’s Office raised the number of dead in its jurisdiction to 11, while Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman said there were three dead in the Mendocino County Complex. Two other deaths have been reported in Napa County.

In response to questions at Tuesday night’s town hall about the fire’s movement, Lake County FIre Chief Willie Sapeta explained, “The fire isn’t going in any one direction.”

He said the fire was located primarily on the back side of Eastlake Drive, all the way up to the top of Sulphur Bank Drive where there is a hard closure at 18th, Bush and Sulphur Bank, as well as past Mendocino Street off of Lakeshore Drive on the gooseneck, and just on the east side of Windflower Point.

As firefighters increased containment on the Sulphur fire, conditions in Napa and Sonoma counties on Tuesday afternoon remained critical, with new fire incidents, erratic fire activity and new rounds of evacuations.

At various points, officials reported having little or no resources to respond to the new incidents.

Late Tuesday afternoon, the California Highway Patrol closed Highway 29 over Mount St. Helena at Western Mine Road in Middletown as well as on the Napa County side while firefighters worked in the area, as Lake County News has reported.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office later said firefighters were in the area working on the Tubbs fire.

Clear Lake Area CHP Officer Kory Reynolds told Lake County News on Tuesday evening that the closure was to remain in effect overnight. He did not know at that time when it might reopen.

Sheriff Martin was in the south county on Tuesday evening to assess the situation.

He told Lake County News he was monitoring the activity on the 28,000-acre Tubbs fire on the opposite side of Mount St. Helena, noting that the fire was at that time moving toward Lake County.

Martin said there were no immediate threats and he had not called for evacuations or advisories for southern Lake County.

Nonetheless, residents in the south Middletown area were encouraged to prepare for the possibility that evacuation might be necessary by gathering medications, important papers, and having a plan to move your pets and animals.

Other progress in relation to the fire was made on Tuesday, with President Trump approving a major presidential disaster declaration requested by Gov. Jerry Brown on behalf of Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Nevada, Sonoma and Yuba counties due to ongoing wildland fires.

Brown had declared a state of emergency in Lake and other counties on Monday.

Sheriff Martin also declared a local emergency due to the Sulphur fire on Monday, with the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday to unanimously ratify the declaration.

Supervisor Rob Brown also told community members at the Tuesday night town hall that the county is committed to helping the city, and the agencies already are working together on the path forward.

“Recovery started yesterday,” he said.

Brown also reported that work is under way to establish a local assistance center in the city to help fire survivors begin the recovery process.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

LAKEPORT, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved the sheriff’s declaration of a local emergency due to the Sulphur fire, and got updates on conditions.

The fire began shortly before 1 a.m. Monday on Sulphur Bank Drive near Clearlake Oaks before burning over the hill and into the city of Clearlake.

Sheriff Brian Martin on Monday declared a local emergency, and during the brief special Tuesday morning meeting the board unanimously approved a resolution to ratify the declaration.

Firefighters on Tuesday continued to hold the fire at 2,500 acres, raising containment to 30 percent by nightfall.

Board Chair Jeff Smith called for a moment of silence for the fire victims across the state at the start of the meeting.

It would later emerge that Smith and his wife lost their Clearlake home of 31 years to the fire.

Martin acknowledged how well Smith was handling his own loss in the midst of the wider community tragedy.

In his update to the board, Martin explained, “This fire quickly grew, driven by high winds.”

He said the winds were up to 50 miles per hour, and he experienced them himself while on his way to the scene.

“We’re dealing with this fire with some limited resources,” Martin said.

He said more than 18 fires started in a 24-hour period throughout the state.

Martin said Cal Fire’s Incident Management Team 4, which managed the Rocky and Valley fires in 2015, is overseeing both the Sulphur fire and the 26,000-acre Mendocino County Complex. The team is headquartered at the fairgrounds in Ukiah.

He said both the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army are involved in the emergency response, with the Red Cross managing the shelters and the Salvation Army preparing meals.

“As with previous fires that this county has experienced, our main concern is public safety,” Martin said.

“We need to make sure the areas are safe enough for people to return to their homes,” he said, adding that considerations include hazardous materials, downed power lines and hazardous trees.

Regarding the danger from fire-damaged trees, Martin said he had been informed that a piece of Cal Fire equipment had been destroyed by a tree in the Sulphur fire area.

Martin also reported that Pacific Gas and Electric is continuing its efforts to get power restored in unburned areas.

He said that Gov. Jerry Brown declared a statewide emergency in response to the fires that originally did not include Lake County. That’s because Lake County at that time was still in the process of making its own disaster declaration.

Once the county’s declaration was completed, Martin said Lake County was added to the statewide emergency. The governor’s office reported declaring a state of emergency for Lake County on Monday.

Martin said during the meeting that the city of Clearlake did its own separate disaster declaration.

Gov. Brown’s request for a presidential major disaster declaration included Lake County, Martin said.

Just a few hours after the meeting, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said that President Trump had approved the declaration, making federal disaster assistance available to California in the wildland fire recovery.

Martin said he had toured the fire area, and while he didn’t yet have a definitive number of homes destroyed, he estimated it could be as many as 150.

At that time, the Community Development Department has put together four damage assessment teams that were going to move through the fire area to get a more accurate county, according to Martin.

The vast majority of the burn area is in unincorporated county, in very rural and unpopulated areas, Martin said.

He said it appeared to him that most of the structures that burned were within the city of Clearlake, where most of the evacuees also live.

Supervisor Smith said the fire jumped around in strange ways. He said there are clusters of homes where one home in the middle is burned and others are untouched.

He said it also took out homes built five years ago with stucco and metal roofs that were thought to be fire safe.

The board voted 5-0 on the resolution ratifying Martin’s emergency declaration.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Officials hosted a second town hall to update the community on the Sulphur fire on Tuesday evening.

The hourlong event was held at the Clearlake Senior Center.

Representatives from the city of Clearlake, the county of Lake and Cal Fire gave the latest on the fire, which has burned 2,500 acres since it began early Monday morning.

During the meeting it also was announced that some residents who had been forced to evacuate would be allowed to return home.

The full meeting can be seen above.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The National Weather Service is warning of more critical fire weather potential this week due to the arrival of more strong winds and low humidity.

The agency has issued another red flag warning for parts of Northern California, including Lake and neighboring counties, from 11 a.m. Wednesday to 5 p.m. Thursday.

A red flag warning – a combination of strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures – means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly.

The National Weather Service said increasing north to northeast wind and low humidity will generate critical fire weather conditions again over Interior Northern California beginning on Wednesday.

Although wind is not expected to be as strong as the Sunday to Sunday night event – which whipped up devastating fires around the region – the forecast warns that more dry, offshore winds could rapidly spread current and any new wildfires.

The specific Lake County forecast predicts winds of up to 10 miles per hour in the fire area, with wind speeds into the mid-20s in southern Lake County.

The forecast also calls for daytime temperatures into the high 70s into early next week and nighttime temperatures down into the 40s.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

THIS STORY HAS BEEN UPDATED.

CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – One of Lake County’s tribes, which was in the path of the Sulphur fire, said it’s rancheria has largely been unscathed by the incident.

The Sulphur fire began early Monday near the 80-acre rancheria that’s home to the Elem Indian Colony of Pomo Indians.

While the rancheria was touched by the fire, tribal officials said that none of the twenty-plus homes located there were damaged by the Sulphur fire.

There were reported to be some evacuations.

When the fire hit, it knocked out a local transformer leaving the residents without power, the tribe said.

“Tribal leadership is working with Lake County Tribal Health to provide water and breathing masks to members,” said Tribal Chairman Agustin Garcia, who does not live on the reservation.

Garcia said the tribe also is working with the California Office of Emergency Services to coordinate the delivery of generators to reservation residents.

Tribal leadership will also contact the Central California Agency of the Bureau of Indian Affairs for assistance.

Those wishing to provide assistance to the tribe can call Garcia at 707-533-6347.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Several local schools and both community colleges will remain closed on Wednesday due to the impacts of the Sulphur fire.

Closures among local school districts for Wednesday include Kelseyville, Konocti and the Middletown Unified school districts, the Lake County International Charter School and the Lake County Office of Education’s Clearlake Community School, according to Rob Young, the Lake County Office of Education’s emergency services and special projects coordinator.

Young said the Lucerne, Lakeport and Upper Lake school districts plan to be open on Wednesday.

The local community college districts also are to remain closed on Wednesday, officials said.

Due to the fires in both Mendocino and Lake counties, Mendocino College Ukiah Campus, North County Center in Willits, the Lake Center in Lakeport and the Coast Center in Fort Bragg are canceling all classes and on-campus events and activities on Wednesday, according to college spokesperson Jessica Silva.

Silva said the Mendocino-Lake Community College District made the decision for the safety of all of its staff and students.

The Woodland Community College’s Lake County Campus also will remain closed on Wednesday, according to Executive Dean Annette Lee.

As for damage, Lee said there is no known damage to her college’s facilities, but there is a lot of debris from the windstorm.

Information was not available on Tuesday about possible damage to Mendocino College district facilities.

Young said the local school districts don’t have reports of damage.

Pomo School, which is located in the Sulphur fire evacuation area, may have some spoiled food in its kitchens, he said.

Konocti Unified Superintendent of Schools Donna Becnel told community members at a Sulphur fire town hall in Clearlake about the Wednesday school closure.

She said the district anticipated reopening schools on Thursday, with the exception of Pomo School, which will need to be thoroughly cleaned.

While classes are canceled, Mendocino College said it is making facilities on the Ukiah Campus at 1000 Hensley Creek Road available for public use from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

The district said bathrooms and showers are available in the Mendocino College Athletic Building. Towels, shampoo, soap and other hygiene items are provided.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – On Tuesday night emergency personnel lifted the mandatory evacuation order for parts of the city of Clearlake.

The city reported that there will be hard closures in place on Lakeshore Drive at Country Club, San Joaquin at Country Club/Marin, and Sulphur Bank Road at Bush.

Those areas north and west of the closures will remain under mandatory evacuation.

Police personnel will be staffing the closures and patrolling the closed areas.

Anyone remaining within the mandatory evacuation area is subject to arrest if caught roaming in
the evacuated area, officials said.

The city also reported that anyone seeing suspicious activity should report it to authorities immediately.

Drones are prohibited as they may interfere with ongoing aerial fire suppression operations, officials said.

Fire personnel have requested that all residents be alert to fire crews and other emergency staff that will be assessing damage throughout the region. Please use caution around any fire impacted areas and report any hazards or hazardous conditions.

Pacific Gas and Electric is working to return power to those areas that are no longer under mandatory evacuation. Spoiled food should be disposed of appropriately.

“The city of Clearlake would like to thank the citizens of Clearlake for their patience and understanding during this crisis,” said City Manager Greg Folsom. “Mandatory evacuations are issued only under dire circumstances to protect life and to protect first responders. We would also like to express a world of gratitude to fire protection personnel and all first responders who have helped us during the Sulphur fire.”

https://t.co/nAl03RtfFo

— Lake County News (@LakeCoNews) October 11, 2017

CLEARLAKE, Calif. – Officials are holding a town hall on Tuesday evening in the Clearlake Senior Center to update community members on the latest situation with the Sulphur fire.

The video may be seen above and will be available for viewing later as well.

MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The California Highway Patrol late Tuesday afternoon closed Highway 29 over Mount St. Helena.

Officer Kory Reynolds of the Clear Lake Area office was on scene and confirmed to Lake County News that the highway was closed at Western Mine Road on the Lake County side.

He said Napa County officials have secured the opposite side of Mount St. Helena.

All traffic is being turned around at the Highway 29 closure, Reynolds said, adding he did not know if Butts Canyon Road is a detour option.

Reynolds said he had not yet received a report on the reason for the closure, but the timing was in concert with reports of new and increasing fire activity in neighboring Napa and Sonoma counties.

Napa and Sonoma county officials reported they were conducting new evacuations in some areas late Tuesday afternoon and early evening.

In Napa County, an updated mandatory evacuation was under way related to the Atlas Peak fire in the Berryessa area and on Mt. Veeder Road.

In Sonoma County, Annadel Heights was placed under an evacuation order and Ida Clayton Road from Highway 128 to the county line has been ordered to evacuate due to spreading fire northbound, officials there said.

Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.