Fires doused in Mendocino, Lake and Napa counties

Crews Monday were mopping up and investigating wildland fires that burned throughout the region over the weekend, including blazes in the remote Mendocino County community of Covelo that destroyed two homes.

There were three fires Sunday afternoon in Covelo - two grass fires that each burned a barn and the fire in a downtown neighborhood that burned the pair of homes, according to Linda Marshall, Covelo’s assistant fire chief.

A Cal Fire official in Mendocino County said the fires were under investigation and that details on the structures lost weren’t available. The fires, on the north- and south ends of town and right in the town center, brought out a huge firefighting response, with more than 20 fire engines from Cal Fire and numerous agencies, as well as two air tankers and two helicopters.

The fires began at about 1 p.m. with a hayfield blaze near Cemetery Drive, south of town.

Soon after, fire broke out on Ledger Lane, about five miles north of the first blaze, Marshall said.

The Cemetery fire burned ?30 acres, and the Ledger fire was stopped at five acres. Thirteen Covelo volunteer firefighters responded to the two calls. The department then learned of the residential fire burning in the downtown neighborhood from a citizen who walked into the fire station.

Volunteers on the Ledger fire peeled away to head to Grange Street and found two homes engulfed in flames.

The houses burned to the ground but firefighters were able to keep the blaze from spreading to nearby homes, Marshall said.

It was possible the neighborhood fire was caused by embers blown from the Cemetery fire, Marshall said.

Initial reports from emergency officials Sunday indicated efforts to mow grass may have caused the Cemetery fire, but that wasn’t clear Monday. Marshall said the Ledger and Cemetery fires appeared to be unrelated.

Laytonville firefighters and Cal Fire were headed for a wildland fire reported in the Black Rock area when the Covelo fires began, said Julie Cooley, Mendocino Cal Fire spokeswoman. The Laytonville fire burned about three acres and a structure.

The Covelo fires were among at least seven that broke out Saturday and Sunday in Mendocino, Napa and Lake counties. All were under investigation Monday by Cal Fire investigators.

While some of the fires were in remote areas, a Sunday fire in Lake County along Highway 53 near Clearlake was highly visible. The fire burned eight acres and threatened businesses and vehicles, including buses in a school district bus barn.

The 5:10 p.m. fire broke out near Ogulin Canyon Road, forcing the closure of the busy rural highway for more than an hour due to heavy smoke and firefighting efforts, said Cal Fire Capt. Joe Fletcher. The response from Lake County Fire and Cal Fire included six fire engines, a helicopter, a bulldozer and other support equipment.

In Napa County, a fire Saturday burned 19 acres near Lake Berryessa. Firefighters arrived by boat to get to the blaze.

An additional two acres burned Sunday in Jameson Canyon near Highway 12 and Kirkland Ranch Road in Napa County. The fire scorched an acre of hay bales.

This fire season, predicted to be severe due to the ongoing drought, got underway in the past few weeks with a handful of major fires throughout the state and a flurry of smaller fires.

Over the weekend, hundreds of Northern California lightning strikes sparked three dozen wildfires, mainly small and quickly doused, according to reports.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com.