LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The steady, hard work of firefighters on the Rocky fire yielded more good news on the fire lines on Saturday, with efforts pushing the incident still closer to the full containment that's anticipated early next week.
On Saturday evening, Cal Fire reported that the Rocky fire was holding steady at 69,636 acres, with containment up to 70 percent.
The fire began east of Lower Lake on July 29. Cal Fire expects to have it fully contained on Aug. 13.
Cal Fire said the cause remains under investigation.
In its 10-day run, the fire has threatened more than 6,500 homes and caused thousands of residents to be under mandatory or advisory evacuation orders, burned into the neighboring counties of Colusa and Yolo, closed Highway 20 and Highway 16 for several days, and destroyed close to 100 structures.
Cal Fire's count of damages remains at 43 homes and 53 outbuildings destroyed, with eight other structures damaged.
The increasing containment and improving conditions led authorities on Saturday morning to lift the remaining mandatory evacuation orders for the Double Eagle Ranch subdivision east of Clearlake Oaks and some areas near Lower Lake, including Rocky Creek Road, for which the fire is named.
With all evacuations now lifted, the Lake County Office of Emergency Services said the Red Cross evacuation shelter at Middletown High School will close at 5 p.m. Sunday. The Red Cross shelter at Kelseyville High School closed at noon on Saturday.
Anyone needing assistance due to Rocky fire impacts is urged to call an around-the-clock hotline set up at 800-325-9604.
While they're closing in on full containment, firefighters are still encountering challenges, from difficult-to-access terrain to deep-seated pockets of heat that have produced several small flare ups within the interior during peak fire conditions, Cal Fire said.
Cal Fire said cooler temperatures overnight and better relative humidity have reduced the fire activity threat along the fire's perimeter.
Cal Fire spokesman Jay Smith told Lake County News on Saturday evening that, overall, the fire's activity has pretty much died down at this point, with firefighters working on hot spots and heat pockets.
“We're in the mop up phase right now,” he said.
Smith said firefighters are concentrating on making sure no flare ups or embers move from the black, burned areas to the green, unburned fuels.
Early Saturday morning, Rocky fire radio traffic indicated there were hunters in the area, with Saturday being the opening day of deer hunting season in the county.
However, Smith said he had received no reports of hunters causing any issues for firefighters.
With numerous fires burning around California, the resources on the Rocky fire have continued to be scaled back as full containment nears.
The still-massive force – based at an incident command center at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Lakeport – on Saturday night included 2,420 personnel, 142 engines, 84 hand crews, 23 water tenders and 13 dozers, Cal Fire said.
Radio reports indicated that some air resources were being diverted from the Rocky fire on Saturday evening for a fire in Mendocino County.
A large amount of smoke continues to pour into the Lake County air basin, which according to a Lake County Air Quality Management District report is largely due to a number of wildland fires to the north.
The district said the winds are blowing the smoke south toward Lake County and out over the ocean.
Because of a forecast for westerly winds, Lake County could experience significant amounts of smoke from those northern fires in the days ahead, the district reported.
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