Clayton Fire in Lake County of California Now 600 Acres, 15 Percent Contained; Mandatory Evacuations in Place [Interactive Map]
Firefighters from California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and from around Lake County are currently trying to contain a fast-moving wildfire in the Lower Lake community. Multiple evacuations have been ordered as the blaze continues to spread.
Latest Update
Daniel Berlant, Cal Fire's Chief of Public Information, tweeted that as of 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, the wildfire blazing close to Highway 29 and Clayton Creek has already reached 600 acres. Containment is at 15 percent.
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Per Fox, the wildfire was first reported before 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. From earlier estimates of 80 acres, the blaze has immediately grown to 400 acres in less than 3 hours, threatening residents and structures. The cause of the fire is still being investigated.
As of press time, more than 215 fire personnel from the Lake County Fire and Cal Fire units, as well as from fire districts around the county, are joining forces to battle the wildfire which has been feared to continue spreading due to the evening winds. Air attack and tankers were also dispatched to stop the spread of the fire.
Mandatory Evacuation
The Lake County Sheriff's Department has ordered the mandatory evacuations of Lower Lake residents living in Cantwell Ranch Road, Riata Road, Teklas Road Hale, Daly Hill, Teklas, Morgan Valley Road, Spruce Grove Road, Noble Ranch Road, Ellen Springs, Stahle Road and Morgan Valley Road.
Evacuated residents are now staying at Highlands Senior Center in Clearlake after Middletown HS refused to open its facility for the fire evacuees.
Effects & Damages
According to Lake County News, Cal Fire is yet to figure out the damages of the 600-acre wildland fire. However, as of 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, there were already over 200 structures threatened by the blaze and the number is expected to grow as the fire progresses.
Over 1,300 residents are also experiencing power outage after authorities requested Pacific Gas and Electric to shut down the power in the affected area.
In addition, some roads were already temporarily closed. These include Clayton Creek, Morgan Valley Road to Sam Road, Spruce Grove Road and Highway 29.
KCRA reports that the Clayton Fire is in the rugged hills of Lake County, which was scorched by the Valley Fire last September 12, 2015. The first wildfire burned 76,000 acres of wild land, destroyed more than 1,300 homes and killed four people.
Valley Fire immediately spread to 400 acres in less than 90 minutes. It took more than one month for the fire personnel to fully contain the destructive blaze.
Interactive Map
