- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Rocky fire moves into Colusa and Yolo counties; Sunday community meeting planned
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Saturday saw the Rocky fire continue to grow by thousands more acres, moving into two neighboring counties, leading to more evacuations and resulting in closures of highways 20 and 16.
On Saturday evening, Cal Fire said the fire had grown to 27,000 acres, but containment remained at 5 percent.
The fire, which began on Wednesday east of Lower Lake, moved into Yolo and Colusa counties on Saturday, Cal Fire said.
So far, two firefighters have suffered minor injuries, according to Cal Fire.
Twenty-four homes and 26 outbuildings have been destroyed so far, and three structures have been damaged Cal Fire said.
A total of 6,156 structures are threatened, and the current evacuation orders impact more than 12,100 people in 5,156 of those residences, according to Cal Fire.
There was a small amount of rain in the fire area on Saturday morning, but Cal Fire spokesman Rick Frawley said there weren't any reports of the rain having an impact.
“Usually, increased humidity levels like that can be beneficial, because it helps with the fire behavior,” Frawley said.
Frawley said that on Saturday the fire didn't make any significant move toward the city of Clearlake, where many residents on the east side of Highway 53 between Riata Road and Highway 20 remain under an evacuation advisory.
“We still have our control lines in place, east of Clearlake,” Frawley said.
However, the fire continued to push to an area east of Clearlake Oaks, which led to authorities issuing the latest mandatory evacuation order Saturday afternoon for the Double Eagle Ranch subdivision east of Clearlake Oaks and all areas east of the Cache Creek Recreation Area along the Highway 20 corridor to Walker Ridge Road, as Lake County News has reported.
The Double Eagle Ranch was last evacuated in June 2008 during the Walker Fire, which burned 14,500 acres in the area of Walker Ridge Road and Indian Valley Reservoir.
A portion of Highway 20 also was closed on Saturday afternoon, originally from the junction with Highway 53 east of Clearlake to Highway 16, and then it was extended all the way to the junction with Interstate 5 in Williams. Highway 16 is closed in both directions from Highway 20 to the Yolo County line.
On Saturday evening, a new mandatory evacuation order was issued for Bear Valley Road from Highway 20 to Wilbur Springs Road in Colusa County. Wilbur Springs Road is also under a mandatory evacuation, Cal Fire said.
Later that night, another mandatory evacuation order was issued for the west side of Highway 16 from County Road 40/Rumsey Canyon Road, north to Highway 20 in Yolo County, Cal Fire said.
Mandatory evacuations in Lake County remain in effect for Morgan Valley Road, from Bonham Road to Jerusalem Grade Road; Mustang Court; Bronco Court; Sunset Court; Bonham Road; Quarterhorse Lane; Sleepy Hollow; Jerusalem Grade Road; Spruce Grove Road (north); Noble Ranch Road; Cantwell Ranch Road; and for the Jerusalem Valley area east of Soda Creek.
An evacuation advisory is still in place for areas east of Highway 29 at Riata Road east of Highway 53 and north to Highway 20, including Ogulin Canyon Road, Spruce Grove Road, Noble Ranch Road, Black Bass Pass, Jerusalem Valley area west of Soda Creek, and Spruce Grove Road to intersection of Jerusalem Grade and Lake Ridge.
Evacuation centers are located Kelseyville and Middletown high schools, with an animal evacuation center set up in the parking lot of the Lake County Department of Social Services at 15975 Anderson Ranch Parkway, Lower Lake.
While St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake is in the advised evacuation area in Clearlake, the hospital's public information officer Melissa Kinsel told Lake County News on Saturday that the hospital remains open and available for patient care.
Fire officials said the fire is expected to continue growing, with firefighters continuing to be challenged by hot, dry weather, difficult access, heavy vegetation that is fueling the fire and changing winds.
On Saturday night Cal Fire said there were 1,940 personnel from various fire agencies committed to the incident, which is headquartered at a base camp at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Lakeport.
The fire resources assigned Saturday night included 180 fire engines, 56 dozers, 37 fire crews, 37 water tenders, 19 helicopters and four air tankers.
Despite its heavy commitment to the incident, Cal Fire was able to quickly move resources to fight a four-acre wildland fire that broke out in Lucerne on Saturday evening.
Tankers offered a spectacular show as they came in low over the town to make numerous retardant drops that helped quickly bring the Lucerne incident under control. Information about that incident is here: www.bit.ly/1IdbkOW .
Cal Fire said a community meeting to discuss the Rocky fire will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at Lower Lake High School, 9430 Lake St.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.