Hundreds of eastern Lake County residents forced to evacuate their homes as a wildfire raged through dry, heat-soaked terrain were allowed to return home Monday night, 28 hours after the fires started, Cal Fire officials said.
Two wildfires, collectively called the Wye fire, erupted near-simultaneously Sunday just east of the intersection of Highways 20 and 53 in Clearlake Oaks and near Walker Ridge Road about eight miles farther east. By 7 p.m. Monday, they had burned a total of about 6,000 acres of mostly rural grass, oak and timber land northeast of Clear Lake.
The cause of both fires remained under investigation, including whether they were intentionally set.
The Clearlake Oaks-area fire destroyed at least two homes, and about 500 residences had been evacuated in the Spring Valley subdivision, Old Long Valley and New Long Valley areas to the northeast.
Highway 20, which was closed Sunday between Highway 53 and Interstate 5 in Williams, reopened at 6 p.m. Monday to one-way traffic led by CHP patrol cars, although the road could be closed again if the fire changes course, Cal Fire spokeswoman Suzie Blankenship warned.
Despite temperatures around 100 degrees, firefighters had the fires 25 percent contained late Monday.
Just before noon Monday, Cal Fire Incident Commander Mike Carr met with about 40 evacuees at the Moose Lodge at Highways 20 and 53.
Standing amidst falling ashes and thick smoke, residents heard that their homes appeared to be safe for now.
Resident May Muoio worried about three orphaned kittens she was caring for at her home.
"They've got to be bottle fed. They may be dead by now," said an upset Muoio.
Lake County animal control officials since 2 a.m. Monday had been escorting three cars at a time into the Spring Valley area for pet checks and retrievals, said Bill Davidson, county animal control director.
Early Monday afternoon, a long line of residents waited in their cars near New Valley Road for their turn with Davidson.
The first of the two fires was reported off Highway 20 near Walker Ridge Road just before 3:50 p.m. Sunday. Initially smaller and called the Walker Fire, the blaze ballooned to more than 2,000 acres by midday Monday.
Minutes after the Walker Fire was called in, the second fire, the Wye Fire, was reported. It also grew rapidly and within hours covered thousands of acres, threatening homes, high-voltage PG&E power lines, a water treatment plant at Wolf Creek, the Yolo County agricultural watershed and fiber optic cables.
As the fires grew, Cal Fire officials began handling the fires as one.
The Wye fire itself had been estimated at 5,000 acres on Sunday. But that was revised down to about 3,000 acres Monday morning. The Walker fire had grown from about 400 acres Sunday night to 2,000 acres by Monday morning.
Fire officials said the growth was fueled by extremely dry brush that acted like gasoline.
Early Monday afternoon, officials said four helicopters and two air tankers had joined 324 firefighters and seven bulldozers in attacking the fires. At least 34 of those firefighters were from Sonoma County.
Fire officials had requested four air tankers, but equipment resources were stretched thin because of several fires in the state.
The Red Cross was providing food at the Moose Lodge and opened the senior center at 3245 Bowers Ave. in Clearlake as a shelter. About 25 people had lunch at the center Monday, the Red Cross reported.
Two people were reported injured: An inmate firefighter at the Walker fire and a civilian at the Wye fire.
Two Sonoma County strike teams were sent to the Wye fire.
The first team headed out Sunday evening, led by Andy Taylor, a battalion chief with Rancho Adobe Fire. He was joined by Windsor, Rincon Valley, Forestville, Healdsburg and Geyserville firefighters.
The second team left at about 6:15 a.m. Monday led by Sonoma Valley Division Chief Bob Norrbom. He was joined by Sonoma Valley, Glen Ellen, Bennett Valley, Schell Vista and Kenwood firefighters.
"They worked around the clock," Central Fire Chief Doug Williams of Sonoma County said of one of the teams. "The terrain is demanding as well as the weather conditions."
He said Sonoma County might be asked to send another strike team, but officials would weigh the potential for fires locally before letting too many more engines and crews leave the county.
Staff Writer Glenda Anderson contributed to this report. You can reach Staff Writers Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or at randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com and Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@ pressdemocrat.com.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: