SOUTH LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With the number of firefighters on scene more than tripling on Thursday, containment increased and acreage held steady on the Butts Fire that's burned in Lake and Napa counties since earlier this week.
Cal Fire, the lead agency on the fire – which began burning in Pope Valley Tuesday afternoon and eventually crossed the Lake County line southeast of Middletown – said Thursday evening that 4,300 acres had burned, with containment at 45 percent.
On Thursday, the number of firefighting personnel increased from 800 the previous day to 2,918, with Cal Fire also reporting that 128 engines, 60 fire crews, four air tankers, 11 helicopters, 12 dozers and 13 water tenders.
A total of two residences and seven outbuildings have been destroyed in the blaze, Cal Fire said, and some 380 had been at risk on Wednesday.
However, by Thursday evening structures were reported to no longer be in harm's way, so the mandatory evacuations orders in Napa County along Butts Canyon Road north to Snell Valley Road and in Berryessa Estates had been lifted.
Lake County officials also lifted an evacuation advisory for residents on Butts Canyon Road from the Lake County line to Langtry Estates.
As a result of the mandatory evacuation orders being lifted, American Red Cross of Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake Counties – which has had a shelter in place at Middletown High School since Tuesday to serve displaced residents and their pets – announced the shelter would be closing.
While Butts Canyon Road north to Snell Valley Road is now open, officials said that Butts Canyon Road and Guenoc Road two miles west of the Lake County line remain closed.
The Napa County Sheriff's Office said that access to the fire area remains restricted to emergency personnel and residents.
The fire's cause remains under investigation, Cal Fire said.
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