Fire officials make more progress on Sulphur fire, complete initial damage assessment
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
CLEARLAKE, Calif. – With more resources arriving in Northern California, firefighters raised containment on the Sulphur fire on Thursday.
Cal Fire reported Thursday night that the fire, burning since early Monday, remains at 2,500 acres, with containment during the day growing to 55 percent.
The Sulphur fire has been combined with the Redwood fire in Mendocino County into the Mendocino Lake Complex, which is under the management of Cal Fire’s Incident Management Team 4.
Incident management team member Capt. Steve Kaufmann said Cal Fire has a total of six such teams, which normally would be assigned each to once fire.
With 17 major incidents going on around the state, each of the teams now has two to three fires to oversee, Kaufmann said, which is the reason the two incidents were combined.
At a community meeting in Clearlake on Thursday night, Kaufmann showed a map of the Sulphur fire, which can be seen below.
He explained that the black line on the northern portion of the fire signifies areas where the fire is contained; in those locations, they don’t believe any fire will cross that line.
The red area around the lower part of the fire is where firefighters are continuing to build line to increase containment, with Kaufmann explaining that work will continue over the next few days.
The Redwood fire, burning in Potter and Redwood valleys since early Monday, was at 34,000 acres and 10 percent containment, based on Cal Fire’s latest estimate on Thursday night.
On Thursday Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman The Mendocino Lake Complex was rated the No. 3 priority statewide amongst a total of 10 disasters.
Allman also said the death toll in the Redwood fire had risen to eight.
Cal Fire was not able to break down the specific resources between the Sulphur and Redwood fires, but for the overall Mendocino Lake Complex a total of 8,000 people have been evacuated between the two fires.
Officials said about 1,000 of those were told to leave their homes on Wednesday night due to worsening conditions in Mendocino County.
Between both incidents, a total of 1,000 structures remain threatened, with a total of 245 homes destroyed and another 15 damaged, two commercial structures damaged, 124 minor structures destroyed and 26 minor structures damaged.
Based on a damage assessment released to Lake County News by the city of Clearlake, 168 structures were destroyed in the Sulphur fire, with all but two of them in Clearlake.
Resources committed to the overall incident include 88 engines, 22 water tenders, 19 helicopters, 67 hand crews, 44 dozers and 1,712 personnel, Cal Fire said.
On Thursday, firefighters benefited from favorable weather conditions across both fires in their efforts to increase containment and protect structures, according to Cal Fire.
However, Cal Fire said firefighters remain challenged by the steep terrain, dry fuel and northwest winds.
Community hears updates
Kaufmann and other Cal Fire personnel joined with local officials at Thursday night’s regular Clearlake City Council meeting, which was combined with a Sulphur fire community update.
One of the council’s main items of business was ratifying the declaration of a local emergency made on Monday by City Manager Greg Folsom.
The update on fire conditions was added as an emergency item to the council’s agenda, and held at the beginning of the meeting.
Folsom started by thanking everyone who had worked so hard to save the city, which had narrowly escaped the Rocky fire two years ago.
Kaufmann credited local firefighters for saving homes before Cal Fire’s teams arrived.
Now, with firefighters coming in from around the region, Kaufmann assured community members that while they might not recognize the firefighters’ faces or patches, “While we’re here, we are your firefighters, and we’re not going to leave until this is mitigated.”
Kaufmann said they are anticipating a significant wind event beginning on Friday, with the coming winds having just slightly less strength than those seen on Sunday and Monday.
“I do want you to understand that we are still not out of danger,” Kaufmann said.
He also addressed concerns about resources, assuring the group that firefighters are coming in from around California, as well as from Washington, Oregon, Nevada and from as far away as the East coast.
He also encouraged people to download Cal Fire’s free “Ready for Wildfire” app to get updated information on incidents.
Also at the Thursday night meeting, Sheriff Brian Martin urged people to remember that the situation remains a dangerous one, with fire weather warnings issued and evacuations still in effect in some areas due to the fire.
Acting Clearlake Police Chief Tim Celli had some good news – the city anticipates being able to lift the remaining evacuations by 5 p.m. Friday.
He said a lot of work has gone into the effort to allow residents to safely return home, with Pacific Gas and Electric, water crews, fire departments and many others involved.
“You have an entire army working for you,” Celli said.
County Supervisor Rob Brown – who was on hand along with fellow board members Jeff Smith, Jim Steele and Moke Simon – said the county is working with the city to start the recovery process.
He said the county has been assured by the California Office of Emergency Services that Lake County is a priority and that it hasn’t been forgotten in the midst of the other disasters around the state.
Smith has been Clearlake’s supervisor for 19 years, and he lost his home of 31 years in the fire.
He didn’t mention his personal loss during the meeting, but instead told community members not to hesitate to ask for help. “We’re all here for you,” he said.
“We’ll all get through this together,” he said, adding, “We just have a fresh start now.”
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