NORTH COAST, Calif. – The efforts of firefighters are bringing a fire that began near Potter Valley on Sunday evening closer to full containment.

Th Burris fire remained at 350 acres on Tuesday night, with containment up to 75 percent, according to Cal Fire.

It began Sunday afternoon in the area of Highway 20 and Potter Valley Road.

Forty structures remain threatened, and the fire has prompted evacuation warnings along Highway 20 south to Highway 175, east of the Russian River and west of the Lake County line, and the Potter Valley area, Cal Fire said.

Due to a red flag warning in effect for Mendocino County and much of the region – which is set to continue through 4 p.m. Wednesday – Cal Fire said firefighters are patrolling and taking action on any possible spotting outside of the current containment lines throughout the night.

Cal Fire said assigned resources Tuesday night included 962 personnel, 72 engines, six water tenders, three helicopters, 14 hand crews and six dozers.

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – As electricity remains off throughout Lake County due to Pacific Gas and Electric’s series of public safety power shutoffs, on Tuesday Sheriff Brian Martin declared a state of emergency.

The emergency proclamation, published below, is in response to “repeated, extended and continuing Public Safety Power Shutoffs,” particularly in light of the threat of the Kincade and Burris wildfires burning nearby.

The Board of Supervisors will hold a special meeting on Thursday to confirm the declaration, Martin said.

The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday in the board chambers on the first floor of the Lake County, 255 N. Forbes St., Lakeport.

Martin told Lake County News that the proclamation opens the door to the possibility of assistance for the county from the state government. He said he does not know if the situation will qualify for federal relief.

The proclamation also adds additional penalties for people committing crimes in the emergency area. As an example, Martin said the sheriff’s office is receiving reports of stolen generators.

He said the county is looking for whatever financial help is to be had in responding to the power shutoffs, the first of which began on Saturday evening, to be followed by another on Tuesday morning, both in response to high wind events.

Most of Lake County didn’t get its power back from the weekend shutoff before PG&E initiated the next shutoff on Tuesday, Martin said. It’s the third time the company has cut power to Lake County this month.

He said he received reports of about 7 percent of Lake County’s 37,441 impacted customer accounts being restored – primarily in the Clearlake area – before the second shutoff began.

Problems from the shutoffs aren’t just impacting Lake County, Martin said.

“It’s a pretty significant amount of havoc statewide,” he said.

Martin said the sheriff’s office has full backup power, but he said problems with generators for agencies throughout the county are starting to surface, with generators not intended to run for a week.

Some water districts and the Lakeport Police Department’s generators have started to have problems, he said.

Separately, Lakeport Police Chief Brad Rasmussen confirmed that the city has had several generator issues, including problems with the one powering his department.

In response, Martin said he’s requested more than a dozen generators from the California Office of Emergency Services and PG&E to help around the county. He said the request is being processed.

Martin said PG&E has indicated an all-clear for the current weather event may be called between 6 and 8 a.m. Wednesday, which would then trigger inspections for damage before power could be restored.

PG&E has stated its goal is to have power back on within 48 hours of an all-clear, which extends the window of power restoration for Lake County into Friday. However, remote areas and areas with damage could be delayed further.

Sheriff Martin’s emergency proclamation is published below.




WHEREAS, Section 6-5 of the Lake County Code empowers the Director of Emergency Services to proclaim the existence or threatened existence of a local emergency when Lake County is affected or likely to be affected by a public calamity and the County Board of Supervisors is not in session, and;

WHEREAS, the Sheriff, as Director of Emergency Services of Lake County does hereby find that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property have arisen within the County of Lake, caused by the repeated, extended and continuing Public Safety Power Shut­Offs. These events have affected all of Lake County, resulting in the loss of primary and critical public services, including water, sewer, communications and public safety services; and have curtailed the ability of schools to remain in session, and;

WHEREAS, the County is currently under threat from the Kincade Fire to the south which started on October 23rd, 2019 and has spread from Sonoma County into Lake County, and;

WHEREAS, the County is currently under threat from the Burris Fire to the West in Mendocino County, and;

WHEREAS, the County has suffered from, and currently suffers from, repeated, extended and continuing Public Safety Power Shut-Offs which have affected the ability of Cities, Tribes and businesses to provide services to their citizens and customers, and;

WHEREAS, the County was subject to a Public Safety Power Shutoff on October 9th, 2019, and;

WHEREAS, the County was subject to a Public Safety Power Shutoff on October 23rd, 2019, and;

WHEREAS, the County was subject to a Public Safety Power Shutoff on October 25th, 2019, and;

WHEREAS, the County is currently subject to a Public Safety Power Shutoff effective on today's date, after 93% of customers in Lake County have not had their power restored from the October 25th Public Safety Power Shutoff, and;

WHEREAS, the Director of Emergency Services hereby finds:

THAT, the compounding effects of the simultaneously occurring fires and Public Safety Power Shutoffs have exacerbated the negative effects to our County to include, forcing residents to leave their homes, causing spoilage of food, imposing immeasurable financial impacts to local businesses, the inability of residents to heat their homes as nighttime temperatures drop into the 30's which can be especially harmful to children and elderly populations, and leaving people who rely on life-saving medical equipment without power, and;

THAT, these conditions are beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment, and facilities of Lake County, and;

THAT, the County Board of Supervisors of the County of Lake is not in session and cannot immediately be called into session;

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY PROCLAIMED AND ORDERED that a local emergency now exists throughout Lake County, and;

IT IS FURTHER PROCLAIMED AND ORDERED that during the existence of said local emergency the powers, functions, and duties of the emergency organization of Lake County shall be those prescribed by state law, by ordinances, and resolutions of the County; and that this emergency proclamation shall expire 7 days after issuance unless confirmed and ratified by the Lake County Board of Supervisors, and;

IT IS FURTHER PROCLAIMED AND ORDERED that said local emergency shall be deemed to continue to exist until its termination is proclaimed by the Lake County Board of Supervisors.

By: Brian L. Martin   
Date: October 29, 2019
Sheriff/Coroner/Director of OES


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CLEARLAKE, Calif. – An early Monday morning fire damaged structures at the former Outrageous Waters water park in Clearlake.

Firefighters arrived at the scene of the fire at the former park, located on Old Highway 53, at about 2:20 a.m. Monday, according to Lake County Fire Chief Willie Sapeta.

By the time firefighters arrived, the remaining structures – including the main building – were well involved, Sapeta said.

Sapeta said Northshore Fire and South Lake County Fire provided mutual aid to Lake County Fire. Lakeport Fire was sending its ladder truck which was canceled en route.

There was concern that the fire could spread the fire to nearby vegetation. “We had some pretty good winds on it at first,” Sapeta said.

He said firefighters were able to contain the fire to the buildings without it spreading.

Firefighters remained on scene until about 8 a.m. Monday, Sapeta said.

There are a large number of homeless who stay in the area, and Sapeta said a search didn't find any signs of anyone.

The fire's cause is under investigation by the Clearlake Police Department and Lake County Fire, Sapeta said.

The park was closed more than a decade ago and the property has since been purchased by a developer. A representative did not immediately respond to an email sent by Lake County News on Monday.

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With tens of thousands of Lake County residents still out of power due to a public safety power shutoff implemented on Saturday, Pacific Gas and Electric said it intends to go forward with another weather-driven shutoff starting early Tuesday morning.

The company reported after 11 p.m. Monday that that it was going forward with the new shutoff ahead of a red flag warning issued by the National Weather Service that's due to go into effect at 8 a.m. Tuesday and continue until 4 p.m. Wednesday.

For Lake County, the shutoff is expected to be implemented at around 7 a.m. Tuesday, but the times could be earlier by at least a few hours based on past experience with the company's shutoff process.

Lake is among 29 counties with a total of 596,000 customer accounts PG&E said it expects will be impacted.

In Lake County, the specific customer number is approximately 37,441, with 2,170 medical baseline customers – the exact numbers impacted by the shutoff that started this weekend and essentially all of the county's population.

PG&E said that as of its Monday night report 554,600 customer accounts, or 57 percent of the 970,000 accounts it turned off power to over the weekend had power restored.

On Monday evening, nearly 400 Lake County residents replied to an impromptu poll on the Lake County News Facebook page about power restoration. A review of the responses found no reports of power restoration.

That agreed with information provided on Monday evening from officials with the county of Lake, who said they had no reports of power restoration for county residents.

The likelihood going into the next event is that many customers won't see power restored, or that it will be on for a very short time before the Tuesday morning outage is implemented.

An “all-clear” to begin inspections for damaged power equipment may not be given until Wednesday morning, according to local officials, meaning that power could remain out in parts of the county until Friday or later in some remote areas.

The planned outage prompted all of Lake County's school districts to announce that classes on Tuesday were canceled.

PG&E will have three community resource centers available for people to get water, charge devices and use wifi during the outages, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the following locations: Clearlake Senior Community Center, 3245 Bowers Ave.; Konocti Vista Casino, 2755 Mission Rancheria Road, Lakeport; and Upper Lake Unified School District, 725 Old Lucerne Road.

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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With Pacific Gas and Electric intending to shut off power again on Tuesday to communities due to another wind event, Lake County's schools and community colleges reported that classes have been canceled.

PG&E said late Monday that it intends to cut power to Lake County at around 7 a.m. on Tuesday, ahead of another red flag warning.

Hundreds of Lake County residents reported on Lake County News' Facebook page on Monday evening that they still hadn't had power restored from the current public safety power shutoff.

Lake County News checked social media messages from districts and separately confirmed with the Lake County Office of Education that all school districts would be closed on Tuesday.

The rule of thumb for districts has been that if they have power at 6 a.m., they will hold classes. But with power expected to be shut off so soon after that deadline, they have opted to close.

Both Mendocino College and Woodland Community College's Lake County Campus in Clearlake were closed on Monday due to the ongoing shutoff that began Saturday.

Steve Wylie, executive dean of Woodland Community College's Lake County Campus, confirmed that the campus there will be closed on Tuesday due to the newly scheduled outage.

Mendocino College also confirmed on Facebook that classes are canceled on Tuesday.

Current estimates are that an all-clear from the shutoff could come on Wednesday morning, with PG&E's goal being to restore power within 48 hours of the all-clear pending inspections and repair to any electrical equipment damage. 

Schools around the county lost days two to three days each due to the public safety power shutoff that took place beginning on Oct. 9, as Lake County News has reported.

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NORTH COAST, Calif. – As containment grew on a Mendocino County fire on Monday, there also were increasing concerns that the fire could jump its lines and threaten the Potter Valley community.

The Burris fire remained at 350 acres with containment up to 50 percent on Monday evening, Cal Fire said.

The fire began on Sunday afternoon in the area of Potter Valley Road and Highway 20 and prompted an evacuation warning for Highway 20 south to Highway 175, east of the Russian River and west of the Lake County line.

Cal Fire said the fire is threatening 40 structures, with none so far been damaged.

However, an impending Tuesday morning red flag warning and a potential for the fire to jump the lines at the Cold Creek Compost Facility spurred the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office to issue an evacuation warning Monday night for the Potter Valley area.

If the winds push the fire beyond its contained edge, a full evacuation order could be called for Potter Valley, the sheriff's office said.

The agency urged residents to be prepared to leave immediately should an order be called.

Cal Fire said that approximately 1,008 firefighters are assigned to the incident, along with 77 engines, six water tenders, three helicopters, 15 hand crews and six dozers.

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On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the launch of a new state website with tools and resources for Californians who have been impacted by wildfires and utility-directed power shutoffs.

The website combines emergency response, recovery and resilience information into a single place for easy access by users.

It is a one-stop portal that includes local and state resources, health services, shelters and housing, preparedness information and more.

“California continues to rise to the challenge of power shutoffs and natural disasters,” said Governor Newsom. “Response.ca.gov provides Californians with a unified portal for critical information during this state of emergency. This site will continuously be updated as needed to provide Californians with the resources they need.”

Response.ca.gov provides Californians with information and resources for current incidents, transportation impacts, vital health services information, shelter and housing locations, unemployment assistance and other state information.

The website also directs users to public safety power shutoff information and preparedness tips. As incidents continue to evolve, the portal will be updated to reflect the latest information and any additional resources the state may develop.

The governor on Sunday declared a statewide emergency due to the dangerous weather conditions.

Then on Monday, Newsom joined the state’s top fire and emergency management officials to provide an update on statewide fire and wind conditions, and announced that California has secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant to help ensure the availability of resources to fight the Getty fire.

California has also secured Fire Management Assistance Grants to bolster the response to the Kincade and Tick fires, for which the governor previously declared a state of emergency in Sonoma and Los Angeles counties.

Over the course of the past week, the governor has met with emergency responders, health officials, residents and local leaders in Petaluma, Napa, Geyserville and Los Angeles, and held public briefings regarding the ongoing fire threats and the need to hold utilities accountable for the consequences of their power shutoff decisions.

The governor has also announced a $75 million program for state and local governments to mitigate the impacts of power shutoffs, and unveiled a series of new partnerships and new tools to help secure medically vulnerable populations during these events.

Under Gov. Newsom’s leadership, California passed AB 1054, wildfire safety and utility reform legislation that expands the California Public Utility Commission's ability to hold utilities accountable for their safety record – a central part of the governor’s wildfire safety actions.

The legislation created a new wildfire safety division at the CPUC and a board of independent expert advisors to more effectively regulate the safety of publicly owned utilities.

The law mandated that utilities tie executive compensation to safety performance, invest $5 billion in safety improvements without profit, and go through a new yearly wildfire safety review and certification process.

It also requires new inspections of utility electrical equipment. Under the law, utilities must create a wildfire safety committee in their corporate board, and provide direct board-level safety reporting to the CPUC.

NORTH COAST, Calif. – Thanks to a reduction in winds in the fire area, firefighters succeeded in improving containment on the Kincade fire on Monday, but concerns about its potential movement into southern Lake County resulted in an expanded evacuation warning for that area.

Cal Fire said that the Kincade fire grew by another 8,000 acres during the day on Monday, reaching a total of 74,324 acres.

At the same time, containment tripled to 15 percent, with Cal Fire continuing to estimate full containment by Nov. 7.

Ongoing damage assessments confirmed that 123 structures – 57 residences, five commercial and 61 other types – have been destroyed in Sonoma County. Cal Fire said an additional 20 structures have been damaged, including 12 homes, one commercial building and seven other structures.

Cal Fire said the Kincade fire continues to threaten approximately 90,015 structures – more than 80,400 of them homes – across Sonoma County.

Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said the improved conditions on Monday allowed officials to reduce evacuation orders to warnings for much of western Sonoma County.

However, at the same time the fire’s behavior led authorities to expand the evacuation warning in southwestern Lake County, specifically for all residents in the Middletown area south of Butts Canyon Road and Highway 175 to the Napa/Sonoma County lines, including Middletown proper, the Middletown Rancheria, Dry Creek area, all roads off Highway 175 between Middletown and McKinley Drive as well as all of Butts Canyon Road including side streets.  

The Cobb Mountain area also remains under that evacuation order, issued Friday, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.

Cal Fire Division Chief Jonathan Cox said during a Monday evening briefing that those evacuation warnings for south Lake County were triggered by fire behavior.

He said a lot of effort is being focused on the fire’s eastern flank in order to protect Lake County and its residents from the potential spread of the fire.

Fire Chief Mike Blankenheim, the incident commander for Cal Fire, said overall the Kincade fire didn’t make a big run on Monday, with little wind but conditions remaining dry.

He said the fire burned very actively throughout the afternoon in the Mount St. Helena area, and that’s where they focused air tankers, the very large air tanker and helicopters.

Blankenheim said they are doing everything they can to stop the fire from running into Lake County, and working on robust contingencies for Lake County and Calistoga in Napa County if the fire should reach those areas.

The fire ran into the Shiloh Ridge area near Windsor on Sunday, and Blankenheim said firefighters went direct and worked hard on that part of the fire on Monday.

Now, they are getting ready for another wind event expected to arrive on Tuesday, which has led to Pacific Gas and Electric to say it is planning another possible public safety power shutoff, as many customers impacted by the current shutoff still don’t have power restored.

Ryan Walburn of the National Weather Service said there were better conditions on Monday with less wind. However, a new red flag warning is expected to go into effect at 8 a.m. Tuesday and continuing until 4 p.m. Wednesday.

He said on Tuesday there will be a gradual ramp up, with winds of 10 to 20 miles per hour with gusts of up to 30 miles per hour from the northeast.

Those northeast winds are expected to come in off of Mount St. Helena and Cobb Mountain and move across the fire area, Walburn said.

In the afternoon, the warmest and driest period of the day, Walburn said to expect 30 to 40 miles per hour winds, with gusts in the 50-mile-per-hour range, also out of the northeast, which will push the fire back into its footprint.

The most critical period will be on Tuesday night, when winds are expected to peak through midnight before easing on Wednesday, he said.

While it’s not on the magnitude of the weekend wind event, Walburn urged people not to downplay the incoming weather system, as it is still significant.

Walburn added that they don’t see any upcoming wind events in the forecast.

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MIDDLETOWN, Calif. – The Lake County Sheriff’s Office on Monday evening expanded the south county evacuation warning area in response to the Kincade fire.

At 5:50 p.m., the sheriff’s office issued an alert reporting that the evacuation warning – which is not a mandatory order – had been expanded to include all residents in the Middletown area south of Butts Canyon Road and Highway 175 to the Napa/Sonoma County lines.

This includes all roads off Highway 175 between Middletown and McKinley Drive as well as all of Butts Canyon Road including side streets.

The evacuation warning for the Cobb Mountain area, which was issued Friday, remains in effect, the sheriff’s office said.

“We are asking everyone to take preparations in the event that a mandatory evacuation order is issued,” the sheriff’s office said in its alert. “Preparations should include gathering all medications, important documents, making plans for pets, and notifying family members where you may be going. Those requiring additional time to evacuate or those with pets or livestock should leave the area as soon as possible.”

The report continued, “During a mandatory evacuation, it will be extremely hectic and traffic conditions will be very congested. By evacuating early, you do your part in keeping yourself, your neighbors, and our first responders safe. This is not an evacuation order and is only a warning.”

The alert is published below in Spanish.

“La ADVERTENCIA DE EVACUACIÓN relacionada con el incendio de Kincade se está ampliando para incluir a todos los residentes en el área de Middletown al sur de Butts Canyon Road y la autopista 175 a las líneas del condado de Napa / Sonoma. Esto incluye todas las carreteras fuera de la autopista 175 entre Middletown y McKinley Drive, así como todas las calles de Butts Canyon Road, incluidas las calles laterales. La advertencia de evacuación para el área de Cobb Mountain sigue vigente. Les pedimos a todos que se preparen en caso de que se emita una orden de evacuación obligatoria. Los preparativos deben incluir reunir todos los medicamentos, documentos importantes, hacer planes para mascotas y notificar a los miembros de la familia a dónde puede ir. Aquellos que requieren tiempo adicional para evacuar o aquellos con mascotas o ganado deben abandonar el área lo antes posible. Durante una evacuación obligatoria, será extremadamente agitado y las condiciones del tráfico estarán muy congestionadas.Al evacuar temprano, usted hace su parte para mantenerse a salvo a usted, a sus vecinos y a nuestros socorristas. Esta no es una orden de evacuación y es solo una advertencia.”

NORTH COAST, Calif. – Firefighters are taking advantage of a break in the windy weather to try to strengthen containment on the growing Kincade fire.

On Monday morning, Cal Fire said the fire had increased to 66,231 acres, with containment remaining at 5 percent.

Cal Fire said 96 structures – 40 residential, three commercial and 53 other – have been destroyed. Another 16 have been damaged; they include 10 homes, one commercial structure and five other types of buildings.

With an estimated 79,765 structures still threatened – including 70,425 homes, 750 commercial and 8,500 other types of structures – evacuations across a large portion of Sonoma County remain in effect, officials said.

Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said an estimated 185,000 people have been evacuated as a result of the fire.

Essick said his office was meeting with Cal Fire and county emergency officials to look at the evacuation area.

On Monday afternoon, Cal Fire issued a limited repopulation notification for the communities of Bodega, Bodega Bay, Carmet, Muniz Ranch, Sebastopol, Occidental, Freestone, Camp Meeker, Forestville, Rio Nido, Hacienda, Monte Rio, Cazadero, Guerneville and Valley Ford, and all areas west of East Side Road.

Areas throughout the Russian River Valley to Bodega Bay have been reduced to an evacuation warning and are open for repopulation, Cal Fire said.

Evacuation orders remain in place for areas north of Occidental Road while areas south of Occidental Road have been reduced to an evacuation warning and also may be repopulated, according to the update.

In Lake County, Sheriff Brian Martin said Monday that an evacuation warning issued Friday for residents of Adams Springs, Anderson Springs, Cobb, Gifford Springs, Hobergs and Whispering Pines, and along the Ford Flat Road and Socrates Mine Road remains in effect.

It is not a mandatory evacuation order but Lake County officials want residents of the area to be prepared to evacuate should it become necessary.

Cal Fire Division Chief Jonathan Cox said that on Monday the focus for firefighters is perimeter control and structure protection, with the goal of taking advantage of a 24-hour period of more favorable weather conditions.

The fire began Wednesday night in The Geysers geothermal steamfield. It has since been pushed by winds toward Geyserville, Healdsburg and Windsor.

Cox said Monday that overnight most of the fire activity was just south of Windsor, along the Shiloh Ridge area.

“Firefighters made an aggressive stand in that area,” he said, bringing in significant resources to fight the fire.

Essick said Monday that had Windsor not been evacuated, firefighters couldn't have been as aggressive in working the incident.

“The northern area of Windsor was saved yesterday because of their efforts,” Essick said, thanking community members for following directions to evacuate. “That is truly a success story.”

The National Guard as well as firefighters from a number of neighboring states have joined the effort, bringing the total number of firefighters on the lines on Monday to 4,150, Cal Fire said.

Ryan Walburn of the National Weather Service said that, after the weekend red flag warning expired at 11 a.m. Monday, there was a window of opportunity for quieter weather this afternoon, overnight tonight and into Tuesday morning.

He said forecasters are starting to get ready for another red flag event, expected to should start midday Tuesday and continuing until Wednesday morning.

At the end of the week, he said the forecast calls for less wind, but still no sign of rain.

The weekend winds had battered the fire area. Pacific Gas and Electric, which implemented a public safety power shutoff beginning on Saturday, reported winds of 102 miles per hour in the Pine Flat area, located within the Kincade fire footprint.

Fire Chief Incident Commander Mike Blankenheim of Cal Fire said the priority for firefighters on Monday will be working on perimeter control in the area of Mount St. Helena, on the Kincade fire's northeastern corner, as well as Mark West and Shiloh Ridge, areas the fire reached on Sunday night.

He said they also will focus on structure defense in Healdsburg and Windsor.

In other news, Assistant Chief Tim Noyes of the California Highway Patrol in Sonoma County said that late Sunday night the CHP was able to reopen all of Highway 101, both northbound and southbound lanes.

However, Noyes said that the ramps in the evacuated areas will remain blocked.

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This story has been updated as of 1 a.m. Monday based on new information from PG&E. The Twin Pine community resource center also has been closed.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – As millions of Californians remain out of power due to a public safety power shutoff that began on Saturday, Pacific Gas and Electric said that another weather system expected to arrive on Tuesday could warrant still another shutoff.

The company cut power to Lake and 37 other counties on Saturday evening ahead of heavy winds that battered the region overnight and on Sunday.

An estimated 965,000 customer accounts were impacted, according to a report from Mark Quinlan, PG&E's senior director of emergency preparedness and response.

Another 100,000 customers are without power due to emergent conditions with the weather event, Quinlan said.

Those numbers are related to accounts, not the actual number of impacted Californians. The Oct. 9 shutoff, which impacted about 750,000 customers, was estimated to have impacted 2 million people.

The outage that began Saturday also includes 6,145 critical facilities and 28,920 miles of overhead circuits regionwide, officials said.

Quinlan said Sunday evening that PG&E had given the all-clear to begin inspections before reenergization to some parts of Northern California and as a result had already begun to restore power to some customers.

The county of Lake reported Sunday that PG&E had provided it with information indicating that Lake County could get the all-clear between 6 and 8 a.m. Monday, at which point PG&E would start inspections with the goal of restoring power within 48 hours, depending on any damage found to electrical equipment.

However, shortly before 1 a.m. Monday, PG&E issued an update that said as wind conditions improved on Sunday afternoon it had issued the all-clear for customers in Humboldt, Siskiyou, Trinity, Northern Mendocino and portions of Lake County, and had begun safety inspections before sundown.

By 10 p.m. Sunday, more than 30,000 customers had their power restored, PG&E said.

PG&E did not specify where the all-clear in Lake County had been given, but said it was continuing to monitor conditions in Lake and other counties impacted by the “historic safety shutoff” so as to give the all-clear for the remaining customers.

As forecast, high winds hit the county hard, particularly after 12 a.m. Sunday. That prompted the Clearlake Police Department to put out a Sunday morning alert reporting that, due to the high winds, it had received numerous reports of trees and power lines down across several roads in the City.

Police urged people to use caution for fallen objects on the roadway, and to report downed trees and power lines to authorities.

PG&E’s early Monday report said maximum wind gusts around the outage area ranged from 70 miles per hour at Jarbo Gap in Butte County, to 87 miles per hour on Mount St. Helena west in Sonoma County, and 102 miles per hour on Pine Flat Road, also in Sonoma County and in the Kincade fire area.

Because of those high wind speeds, the company said damage to power equipment could be significant.

New weather event could bring another shutoff

At the same time, PG&E officials said they are monitoring a new weather system that the National Weather Service has forecast will bring more fire risk through high winds and dry conditions.

That offshore wind event, expected to arrive over the region on Tuesday, is forecast to continue until Thursday.

That new system could necessitate another shutoff, PG&E said.

It's not believed that the midweek wind event will be as strong as the one that triggered the current shutoff.

During a Sunday evening briefing, PG&E Chief Meteorologist Scott Strenfel said this incoming system appears to be weaker, adding that the “sliver of good news” is that they are not looking at any other incoming weather systems past Wednesday.

Company officials said the possible new shutoff this week could be similar in size and footprint to the current one, with PG&E beginning notifications to 600,000 customers in 35 counties who could be included on Sunday.

PG&E reported that it will “make every effort” to restore power between the two events, but the ability to do that depends on the extent of wind damage.

County officials said PG&E informed them that deenergization for the next shutoff could begin at 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, ahead of the weather event expected to begin at 6 a.m.

An all-clear could come at noon on Wednesday, with the county reporting that restoration of power could take place on Friday.

On Sunday, county officials reported that they had an indication that some portions of the south county, including Hidden Valley Lake, could be excluded, but the situation could change.

A concern is whether some Lake County customers may not have their power restored between the two shutoff events.

The county of Lake said that scenario – of remaining without power over the course of both shutoffs, with no break – is a possibility.

Local governments and agencies staffed up, monitoring situation

With the outage expected to continue early into the new week, school districts around Lake County – Lakeport, Lucerne, Kelseyville, Konocti, Middletown and Upper Lake – reported that they will remain closed on Monday. If power is restored by 6 a.m. Tuesday, districts anticipate reopening. They urged people to stay tuned for followup messages.

The city of Lakeport said its Public Works and departments, and city emergency operations staff continue to monitor the situation and work to maintain all city infrastructure.

The Lakeport Police Department continues to have additional staff working to patrol and protect neighborhoods and business districts.

The city of Lakeport said it also is working in cooperation with the Lakeport Fire Protection District, which has increased staffing in the event they need to respond to emergency fire situations.

At the same time, the cities and county government are offering mutual aid to Sonoma County due to the Kincade fire. Assistance has included law enforcement personnel assisting with patrolling the vast Kincade fire evacuation area.

PG&E reported that community resource centers – where people can get water, and charge their phones and medical equipment – remain available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the current outage.

Centers in Lake County are at the Clearlake Senior Community Center, 3245 Bowers Ave.; Konocti Vista Casino, 2755 Mission Rancheria Road, Lakeport; and Upper Lake Unified School District, 725 Old Lucerne Road. The center at Twin Pine Casino & Hotel in Middletown closed Sunday.

The city of Clearlake has additionally announced that Austin Park has public wifi and restroom facilities that are available for use.

For a list of businesses that are remaining open, visit the city of Lakeport Web site.

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.

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A Sunday night crash on Highway 20 east of Clearlake Oaks resulted in one fatality.

The California Highway Patrol confirmed the death, which also was reported from the scene by firefighters shortly before midnight.

The solo-vehicle crash occurred shortly before 11:30 p.m. Sunday on Highway 20 near New Long Valley Road, based on CHP report.

Two people were reported to be in the vehicle, which had major damage and was blocking the highway's eastbound lane, according to the CHP.

Northshore Fire and Cal Fire responded, with units arriving at the scene requesting an air ambulance to transport an individual with major injuries, based on radio traffic.

Over the scanner firefighters also requested a ground ambulance for one person with minor to moderate injuries.

Shortly after 11:50 p.m., incident command canceled the air ambulance and reported they were working to revive the seriously injured patient, who was reported to be the passenger.

A short time later officials confirmed the person had died, with firefighters requesting the Lake County Sheriff's Office send a coroner to respond.

Information about the cause of the wreck was not immediately available early Monday.

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.