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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Thanks to the work of firefighters protecting communities around Lake Pillsbury against the approach of the August Complex, evacuation orders in the area have been reduced to warnings.
The US Forest Service said Monday that the August Complex had grown to 878,470 acres – up about 8,000 acres since Sunday – with containment up two percentage points to 45 percent.
The complex, which began due to lightning on Aug. 17, is burning on the Mendocino, Shasta-Trinity and Six Rivers National Forests. Fire officials continue to anticipate it will be fully contained on Nov. 15.
Firefighters have been on high alert across the complex’s vast acreage due to an ongoing red flag warning that the National Weather Service issued last week because of high winds from an offshore wind event.
Critical fire weather conditions continue, officials said, with winds on Monday expected to be sustained at 12 to 18 miles per hour with gusts to 25 miles per hour on ridges and high areas, and 6 to 12 miles per hour in valleys.
Officials said temperatures will be close to 100 degrees and the humidity will be in the single digits. Relative humidity values did not increase much overnight, so fuels will start out dry this morning. As a result of these conditions, there will be significant potential for rapid fire growth for most of the day.
Despite the high winds and critical fire weather Sunday, crews successfully defended control lines in the Lake Pillsbury area and the east side of the South Zone is still fully contained, the US Forest Service reported.
On Monday, fire crews are continuing their work to secure firelines in the Pillsbury Lake and Rice Fork areas, the Forest Service said.
The Lake County Sheriff’s Office said Monday that the evacuation orders have been reduced to warnings for all residents and areas south of fire’s edge, north of North Ridge and West Crockett Camp, east of the Lake-Mendocino County line and west of the Lake-Glenn County line.
Also, evacuation orders have been lifted for all areas south of North Ridge and West Crockett Camp, east of the Lake-Glenn-Colusa County line and north of Pack Saddle Creek, the sheriff’s office reported.
Evacuation orders remain in effect for all areas north of the fire’s edge, south and west of the Lake-Glenn County line, and east of the Lake-Mendocino County line, the sheriff’s office reported.
Full evacuation information can be found here.
The Forest Service said the last remaining elements of the 14th Brigade Engineering Battalion from Joint Base Lewis-McChord departed the August Complex on Sunday after fighting the fire for 30 days.
“The hard work by these dedicated soldiers made a significant impact on the South Zone of the August Complex,” said Mike Quesinberry, incident commander of the National Incident Management Organization. “This unit provided additional capacity when national resources were critically low and played an important role in increasing containment and protecting structures.”
On the east side of the complex, the Burned Area Emergency Response team, or BAER, is
mobilized and prepared to start their analyses of the burned area, the Forest Service said.
After a fire, officials said the priority is emergency stabilization in order to prevent further damage to life, property or natural resources on Forest Service lands.
The stabilization work begins before the fire is out and may continue for up to a year. Rehabilitation focuses on the lands unlikely to recover naturally from wildland fire damage, officials said.
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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Thousands of people across Napa and Sonoma counties are once again under evacuation due to a fast-moving wildland fire incident that includes three fires that began on Sunday.
The Glass fire began shortly before 4 a.m. Sunday in the Deer Park area of Napa County. Cal Fire said the first units on scene found a fast-moving 20-acre vegetation fire. By 1 p.m. Sunday, it had grown to 1,200 acres and had doubled again to 2,500 acres by nightfall.
The fire has had a dangerous rate of spread and has expanded into Sonoma County, officials said.
On Sunday night, two additional fires – the Shady and Boysen – began in Sonoma County. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office said those fires were in the area of St. Helena Road and Los Alamos Road.
Cal Fire said those fires have merged with the Glass fire.
Overnight the incident as a whole burned several thousand more acres, with officials reporting on Monday morning that it had burned 11,000 acres, with no containment.
Cal Fire said crews have reported the Glass fire has had short-range spotting with wind-driven runs.
Early Monday, firefighters reported over the radio that the fire was jumping Highway 29 in Napa County and also had crossed over in the 4400 block of Silverado Trail.
Resources have been thin due to so many other fires around the state – Gov. Gavin Newsom said 27 incidents are burning across California – and early Monday crews were being moved around to priority areas as the fire moved closer to homes.
Cal Fire said that the fire is threatening 8,543 structures. There was no report from Cal Fire on Monday about how many structures have been damaged or destroyed, but there were multiple reports Sunday night and into early Monday about losses to vineyards and wineries, including photographs and video footage of burning homes.
The Shady fire portion of the incident was reported to be burning in and around Trione-Annadel State Park on Monday morning.
The fire has led to evacuations across Napa and Sonoma counties. The maps below show the evacuation areas as of Monday morning for both counties.
On Sunday night, thousands of residents were on the highways attempting to leave the areas of the Shady and Boysen fires, with the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office directing evacuees to head east on Highway 12 toward Sonoma because westbound traffic toward Santa Rosa was gridlocked.
By Monday morning, Cal Fire had 1,070 firefighters assigned to the incident, along with 133 engines, 22 water tenders, five helicopters, 26 hand crews and 35 dozers.
Cal Fire said it has activated two new incident management teams. One is being sent to the Glass fire and the other to the 15,000-acre Zogg fire in Shasta County.
A red flag warning remains in effect through Monday for strong and gusty offshore winds, low humidity and dry fuels.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Lake County Tribal Health Consortium is partnering with Westside Community Park and the Lakeport Lions Club to bring a new playground to the park.
On Tuesday, Tribal Health Chief Executive Officer Ernesto Padillo presented a $5,000 check to Westside Community Park Committee members.
They were joined by Lakeport Lions Club board members, who previously donated $100,000 to construct a playground at Westside Community Park.
“Lake County Tribal Health Consortium is happy to help reach the fundraising goal at Westside Community Park,” Padilla said. “Parks like Westside don’t only promote physical activity time but family time as well, which is equally important. Any opportunity LCTHC has to give back to the community that has helped us grow and promotes health is an opportunity we don’t pass up.”
Westside Community Park Committee Chair Dennis Rollins said the donation came about after the committee sent out a fundraising letter in an attempt to raise $5,000 to supplement the Lakeport Lions Club's playground donation.
“The current budget requirement is $110,000 with the cost of grading still to be added when the engineering is complete,” he said. “Ruzicka Associates is donating the engineering services.”
Rollins said Lake County Tribal Health received that letter and offered the entire $5,000 to meet the goal the committee’s letter described.
In addition, so far more than $4,000 more has come in from community donations in response to the letter, Rollins said.
“This playground will become a reality thanks to the Lions Club, Lake County Tribal Health and members of our community,” Rollins said.
Earlier this month, during Tribal Health’s groundbreaking of its new Clearlake clinic, Padilla presented a $25,000 to the city of Clearlake to go toward improvements at Austin Park, as Lake County News has reported.
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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The Board of Supervisors last week offered honors to a longtime county planning commissioner as he retires from his position.
Supervisor Bruno Sabatier presented a proclamation of commendation to Lake County Planning Commissioner Bob Malley at Clearlake City Hall on Tuesday morning, appearing via Zoom as part of the board’s meeting.
Joining Sabatier and Malley in the Clearlake City Council chambers were Mayor Russ Cremer and Sabatier’s predecessor on the board, retired District 2 Supervisor Jeff Smith.
Sabatier said Malley retired effective Sept. 24.
The Board of Supervisors voted to confirm Malley as Smith’s pick for the planning commission on Feb. 23, 2010.
In his time on the commission, Malley has considered key – and sometimes controversial – development projects around the county, including Dollar General’s various store proposals around Lake County, Valley Oaks and the Guenoc Valley Project in the south county, as well as cell towers and numerous cannabis projects.
The board commendation also credited him with helping to make decisions on important land use ordinances that will change Lake County’s future.
By the time he joined the commission, Malley already had a lengthy record of public service, from his time as a Lake County Sheriff’s deputy to serving on the Clearlake City Council, including holding the mayor’s job.
The proclamation credited Malley for bringing “intelligence, integrity, understanding, hard work, and a passion for community to the Planning Commission,” thus setting the bar for all other commissioners to meet.
Sabatier said Malley has done a lot for the city of Clearlake and the county as a whole. “He is part of Lake County.”
Smith said Malley has served the community in outstanding ways, including the sometimes thankless task of being a planning commissioner.
“I don’t know how to thank him enough,” other than to take him golfing, Smith said.
Smith told Malley, “You retired once, you need to retire again.”
Cremer said he’s known Malley going back to the time when he wore a badge.
“You’ve done a fantastic job in helping to make Lake County and the city of Clearlake a clearer and a safer place,” said Cremer.
He added in jest, “Did I mention that we have an opening on our planning commission?”
Supervisor Rob Brown said he was a teenager when he met Malley, then a sheriff’s deputy, known for treating people fairly.
Brown said Malley has been a great planning commissioner and wondered if in his retirement Malley will stop sending him text messages during the board meetings, suggesting how to vote on topics.
He also recognized Malley’s wife, Debi, for her support. “It’s a team effort on your part,” said Brown. “I appreciate both of you very much.”
Supervisor EJ Crandell served on the planning commission with Malley, and at Tuesday’s meeting recalled how Malley encouraged him to take on the vice chair job after his first year.
He said Malley may not have agreed with some projects, but he went by the book.
“We leaned on him a lot for his experience and he did a great job as a planning commissioner,” Crandell said.
“It’s been fun. It’s been a labor of love,” Malley said, adding, “This county has been very close to my heart.”
He said his parents moved him – kicking and screaming – to Lake County from San Francisco in 1966 when he was 16 years old. It wasn’t easy transitioning from his big high school in the city to the smaller school at Lower Lake.
He said his job with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office was the one he enjoyed the most, but he had to leave it early after being injured.
“We found other ways to help out,” he said, referring to his service on the Clearlake City Council and then the planning commission.
He said that as a commissioner he made his choices based on the laws laid out in front of him.
Malley thanked the board for the recognition. He said his wife retires on Oct. 1 – she works as Konocti Unified School District’s manager of student and family services – and they’re looking forward to camping trips in the near future and a cross-country trip next year.
“Bob is a shining example of what we’re always looking for in our community,” Sabatier said. “The best thing you could ever do for yourself and your community is to give back.”
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