LOWER LAKE, Calif. – Lower Lake residents and community leaders gathered on Sunday to remember the beginning of the devastating Clayton fire and also to celebrate the fire department that has protected the town for more than seven decades.
The Lake County Fire Protection District hosted the anniversary event at the Lower Lake Station 65 on Main Street.
The gathering marked two anniversaries – the beginning of the Clayton fire, which occurred on Aug. 13, 2016, and the fire district’s 75th anniversary.
Local officials in attendance included District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon, Clearlake City Manager Greg Folsom, Clearlake City Councilman Phil Harris – who acted as master of ceremonies – as well as Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg, Cal Fire firefighters and the fire board’s members.
The Clayton fire was first reported just minutes after 6 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 13, 2016.
Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta said the fire, which began off Highway 29 at Clayton Creek south of Lower Lake, had first been reported as a 100-foot spot.
Firefighters had made progress on the blaze and had it bedded down for the night at about 1,000 acres, he said. At that point, it had appeared to be well on the way to be contained.
But the next day, Aug. 14, the situation changed dramatically as – whipped by winds and high temperatures – the fire turned into a conflagration.
It made a furious run, turning back toward Lower Lake, jumping containment lines, triggering the evacuations of thousands more residents in Lower Lake as well as in parts of Clearlake, and leading Sheriff Brian Martin to declare a local emergency.
For several hours, the fire savaged the town and its historic Main Street, destroying historic buildings – and coming just feet from burning the Lower Lake Historic Schoolhouse Museum – while surrounding Station 65 itself.
Much of the damage was done in that first day, with 300 buildings – about 200 of them homes – destroyed. By the time the fire was fully contained on the evening of Aug. 26, it had burned a total of 3,929 acres, according to Cal Fire.
While Aug. 14 – the date the fire turned on Lower Lake – has cast a shadow over the town, it’s the fire department’s goal that this year it will have new meaning.
Beginning at 8 a.m. Monday, Aug. 14, Station 65 will for the first time begin regular 24-hour staffing, said Sapeta.
He said that’s the result of Measure D, the parcel tax district voters approved in March.
Sapeta said it was paramount that the Measure D funds were rolled out immediately to benefit the district and its residents.
The measure not only prevented the district from having to make staffing cuts but has allowed it to recruit and hire new firefighters. It’s also funded updates to Station 65 including new sleeping quarters and a kitchen, Sapeta said.
For the 2017-18 budget year, the station will have one person for every eight-hour shift, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, according to Sapeta.
Then, in the 2018-19 budget year, Sapeta said that staffing will be increased to two people per shift.
Sapeta believes that having the station staffed from this point forward will play a huge part in the community’s recovery.
It also will be part of improving community protection and filling in a coverage hole, Sapeta said.
He said there now will be a five-minute response time for fire and medical calls in the Lower Lake area.
That’s important, as he said it can take from 7 to 10 minutes for units responding from Clearlake.
In addition to adding paid staff, Sapeta said the district hopes to increase the ranks of its volunteers.
He said volunteers age 18 and above are welcome; the district will train them. Interested community members can call the fire district’s main office at Station 70, 707-994-0733, or Sapeta invited them to call his cell phone at 707-489-0966.
Offering comfort; looking ahead
A woman who had played a big role in supporting the community in the days and weeks after the fire is Susie Novak, who visited the station on Sunday afternoon.
Novak ran the Brick Hall located next door to Station 65 as a “community comfort zone” for about a month after the fire.
She fixed special meals and encouraged both firefighters and community members alike to come in, sit down and do just the basics – eat, rest, drink water and talk.
“It was kind of an escape for me,” said Novak, who had worked nonstop from early in the morning until late at night during the weeks that the comfort center operated.
She said she did it because people were hungry and didn’t have a place to go. For town residents seeking to retrieve some sense of community, Novak turned the Brick Hall into a friendly, welcoming place.
Novak was accompanied on Sunday by her 1-year-old Italian Mastiff, Gelato, who Sapeta said was a staple of the comfort center.
Gelato shares the same name as the frozen Italian dessert, along with some similar traits. “He’s sweet and he’s cool and he was the ambassador of joy,” Novak said.
Gelato was just 11 weeks old at the time of the fire, and he proved popular with firefighters and community members alike. Novak said pictures of the adorable pup playing with or loving on his human friends circulated far and wide.
On Sunday Gelato – now weighing in at 100 pounds – once again got a lot of attention, including ear scratches and pats from friends both old and new.
Also showing his support for the community on Sunday was Supervisor Simon, who took office in January.
Simon, while most associated with the Middletown area, said many people forget that his district also includes Lower Lake.
The town is important to him, as he first played youth football at the nearby Lower Lake High School football field.
Simon is focused on the rebuilding effort and said he welcomed the upcoming discussion on the Board of Supervisors’ Tuesday agenda regarding staffing issues in the Community Development Department.
He said problems can’t be solved until people start talking about them.
“We’re working on the challenges and we’re going to keep working on them,” he said.
He said he is confident that the county will work out its issues in the effort to recover from the devastating wildland fires that have hit it in recent years.
“We’re going to rebuild this community,” Simon said.
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Clayton fire anniversary remembered; Lake County Fire begins around-the-clock staffing of Lower Lake station
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On