HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE, Calif. – Thousands of Hidden Valley Lake residents were forced from their homes by the Valley fire, and now officials are working to assess damage and ensure safety before allowing everyone to return home.
Hidden Valley Lake was evacuated on Saturday, within hours of the beginning of the Valley fire, which began on Cobb and then spread to Hidden Valley and Middletown.
By Wednesday night, the fire had burned more than 70,000 acres, making it one of the most damaging in the county's recorded history.
Since then, Hidden Valley Lake residents – which according to US Census Bureau estimates number more than 5,400 – have been in shelters, hotels, campgrounds, or staying with friends and families.
“At this point there’s no more fire in HVLA, but we’re just worried about flare ups,” said Association General Manager Cindy Spears.
Spears said they believe 70 homes in the gated community have been destroyed by the fire.
Most importantly, said Spears, “Up to this point, we know of no loss of life.”
She said the association doesn’t yet have a full tally of those residences that have survived but have structural damage.
Spears said the hardest-hit area of homes is located around the golf course's back nine holes.
She said Hidden Valley Lake Community Services District has turned the water back on to the community, and they're now working with Cal Fire and Pacific Gas and Electric to get power restored.
“We didn't have any real damage to the association property,” Spears said, adding that the Greenview Restaurant is still standing.
Spears said association staff and board members are mostly displaced and so have been working from hotel rooms. Some staffers, she said, have lost everything.
One of their considerations is using the community's campground as a location for temporary housing for residents whose homes were destroyed, she said.
Part of the issue with returning people home is making sure they have electricity.
Jeff Smith of PG&E told Lake County News on Wednesday that 7,200 customers across the south county are without power.
He said more than 500 crews are on the ground in the south county, making repairs to hundreds of poles and removing hundreds of damaged trees.
PG&E has “worked at lightning speed” to make repairs, Spears said.
Spears said the association is working on a plan to return people to their homes in the safest way possible. “We want to do it the right way.”
On Wednesday she did not have a definite date for when residents could return, but she estimated that it could be sometime this weekend.
“That's what we're hoping for,” Spears said.
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Hidden Valley Lake Association assesses damages to community; dozens of homes destroyed
- Elizabeth Larson
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