Firefighters set sail to battle Lake Sonoma fire

A flotilla of firefighters helped battle a Lake Sonoma blaze that was easy to spot but not so easy to get to Thursday night.

Cal Fire received a call at 7:17 p.m. of a wildland fire seen burning in the Yorty Creek area at the northern end of the lake.

It turned out the fire was located at a boat-in campground at the tip of a long peninsula. The spot was tough to reach, so firefighters hitched a ride on two boats to reach the blaze.

“The inmate crews took their hand tools and took a ride across the lake,” said Suzie Blankenship, Cal Fire spokeswoman. “It was an unusual incident for them.”

The crews got rides on boats provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department.

Other firefighters were forced to take the long way around, navigating a 3-mile-long, seldom-used fire road to reach the blaze, Blankenship said.

The fire grew to nearly 10 acres before it was brought under control by 9:40 p.m., she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @srcitybeat.