GLENHAVEN, Calif. — A fire that began near Glenhaven on Friday morning quickly grew in size and moved toward Clearlake Oaks, leading to the evacuation of thousands of Northshore residents, prompting temporary road closures and resulting in the sheriff’s declaration of a local emergency.
Cal Fire said the Glenhaven fire began at approximately 11:37 a.m. Friday at Hillcrest and Henderson drives.
Shortly before 1 p.m., when the fire was still at an estimated 50 acres, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office began issuing mandatory evacuation orders, one each in Glenhaven and Clearlake Oaks, and also issuing two warnings in the two communities. Another half-dozen evacuation zones were added in Clearlake Oaks by 3 p.m.
The county opened temporary evacuation points at the Lucerne Alpine Senior Center and the former Pearce Field airport in Clearlake. An evacuation shelter was set up at Twin Pine Casino in Middletown.
Meanwhile, observers said the fire appeared to be moving along the ridge line as it moved toward High Valley and Clearlake Oaks.
Gusty winds on Friday afternoon appeared to be driving the flames, and there were numerous reports of spot fires. Cal Fire noted concern about additional spotting as the westerly winds continued through the day.
The situation led to authorities closing Highway 20 at Clearlake Oaks for several hours. However, by nightfall, the highway had been reopened through the fire area.
Cal Fire assigned a large number of aircraft to work the fire. Additional ground resources also were requested to respond.
By early evening, shortly after 5 p.m., the fire was reported to have burned 300 acres, growing by another 100 acres over the course of another hour.
Just before 7 pm. Friday, the Lake County Office of Emergency Services reported that Sheriff Rob Howe had declared a local emergency in response to the fire. That declaration is expected to be ratified by the Board of Supervisors next week.
As of 8 pm. Friday, the fire remained at 403 acres, with no containment.
Cal Fire reported that two structures had been destroyed, with 2,553 structures threatened and 3,475 people evacuated.
On Friday night, at least one helicopter appeared to be continuing to work on the fire.
By that point, the fire was continuing to put off a large amount of smoke, some of which had crossed over into the Sacramento Valley by evening.
A lengthy row of flashing red lights revealed fire vehicles lining a road at the top of a hill overlooking Clearlake Oaks, and more units were staged at Lakeview Drive and Highway 20.
Cal Fire said Friday night that the fire’s most active area was near Cerritos Drive. It was continuing to put off spot fires to the north towards High Valley and the east towards Clearlake Oaks.
Cal Fire said air and ground resources are working on picking up the spot fires as well as fortifying control lines mid-slope to keep the fire from backing down towards Highway 20.
A total of 25 engines, four water tenders, five helicopters, five dozers and four hand crews have been assigned to the incident, Cal Fire said.
In a report issued just after 10 p.m., Cal Fire said forward progress on the fire had been stopped as of 9:40 p.m., with containment at 10%.
By 11 p.m., four zones remained under mandatory evacuation — one in Glenhaven and three in Clearlake Oaks: Zones GLE-E094-B, CLO-E098, CLO-E099 and CLO-E106. That area is located north of Highway 20, west of High Valley Road, south of Cerritos Road and east of Harvey Boulevard.
Evacuation orders have been lifted for three other zones in Clearlake Oaks and warnings were in effect in three zones in Clearlake Oaks and two in Glenhaven. The zones can be seen in real time here.
Officials have so far said the Glenhaven fire’s cause remains under investigation.
The fire follows by less then a month the Boyles fire in Clearlake, which burned an estimated 35 homes and another 32 outbuildings.
Lingzi Chen contributed to this report.
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