- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Firefighters respond to new wildland fire south of Lower Lake; new evacuations required
This story has been updated.
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters are working at the scene of a new wildland fire reported Sunday afternoon south of Lower Lake that is requiring evacuations from nearby homes.
Cal Fire dispatched air and ground units to the fire, reported to be in the 20700 block of Jerusalem Grade Road just after 3:30 p.m.
The Jerusalem fire is located south of Lower Lake and seven miles northeast of Middletown, Cal Fire said.
Cal Fire spokeswoman Suzanne Blankenship said the fire is in the area of Jerusalem Grade Road and Canyon Road, which is south of the Rocky fire perimeter.
The Lake County Sheriff's Office said mandatory evacuations were in effect for the Jerusalem Valley area east of Soda Creek.
Jerusalem Valley Road is closed to all traffic at Spruce Grove Road, as fire personnel and emergency vehicles will be working in the area.
By 6 p.m., the fire had reached 100 acres, according to Cal Fire. A short time later, officials said the fire had jumped to 200 acres.
By 7 p.m., Cal Fire said the fire was up to 2,000 acres, with zero containment.
Copter 104 first arrived on the scene first, at around 3:45 p.m., estimating the fire at that point to be between one and 1.5 acres, based on scanner reports.
The helicopter's crew reported over the air that the fire had appeared to start down at the bottom of a creek.
Ground resources were working to access the fire, according to reports from the scene.
As of shortly after 5 p.m., the fire had reached 20 acres with a moderate rate of spread, according to Blankenship.
“It is spotting because of the wind,” Blankenship said.
A short time later, Cal Fire confirmed the fire had reached 200 acres, before again ballooning in size over the next few hours.
Blankenship said structures were threatened, with mandatory evacuations called for.
She said the sheriff's office and the California Highway Patrol were working to get residents in that area out of harm's way.
Sheriff Brian Martin confirmed to Lake County News that his agency was responding to the area to start evacuations just before 5:30 p.m.
At that point, Martin did not have an estimate of how many residents may need to be evacuated from their homes.
Cal Fire has dispatched additional air resources to the area – including multiple air tankers and helicopters – with some of the units responding coming from the nearby Rocky fire.
Martin said shortly after 6 p.m. that the fire was being aggressively fought with five air tankers and three helicopters.
Additional details will be posted as they become available.
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.