Sawmill fire in The Geysers 75 percent contained

Firefighters have corralled most of the 1,500-acre wildfire burning in The Geysers, building lines around 75 percent of the fire by Tuesday evening, Cal Fire officials said.

The blaze, dubbed the Sawmill fire, is Sonoma County’s largest this fire season. It started late Sunday morning, about 10 miles east of Cloverdale, off Big Geysers Road and Geysers Resort Road.

Tuesday’s progress meant fire officials could release people and equipment to other duties. The 1,033 firefighters battling the flames at the day’s start were down to 717 by day’s end.

“We’re looking good,” said Suzie Blankenship, fire prevention officer for Cal Fire in Sonoma County.

At least a portion of those were expected to be sent to the still-growing Loma fire in the Santa Cruz hills, which exploded from about 1,000 acres Tuesday morning to 2,250 acres by the evening assessment. Cal Fire estimated that blaze to be 10 percent contained and hundreds of people have been ?evacuated.

Sonoma County’s fire, burning in the remote and rugged Mayacamas Mountains separating Sonoma and Lake counties, has blackened mostly grass, brush and oak lands.

It is centered within a 45-square-mile area known as The Geysers, home mainly to a massive geothermal plant, as well as a scattering of hunting cabins and vacation homes.

Firefighters worked Tuesday in the southern end of the fire, expanding the containment line that already stretched along the eastern side, Blankenship said.

Evacuations and road closures ended Monday evening and the fire hasn’t burned any buildings or damaged any Calpine equipment, officials said.

Cal Fire investigators Tuesday continued to look for the cause of the blaze, including whether it could have been sparked by infrastructure on the power plant property, such as power lines, or people in the area ­- it was the last day of the 2016 deer hunting season.

You can reach Staff Writer Randi Rossmann at 707-521-5412 or randi.rossmann@pressdemocrat.com. ?