CLEARLAKE — In-county strike teams along with a full CALFIRE wildland dispatch were ordered on a vegetation fire in Clearlake Monday evening. The fire burned for little more than two hours, consuming approximately 10 acres in the eastern edge of the city.
According to Lake County Fire Protection District (LCFPD) Battalion Chief (BC) Willie Sapeta the fire is considered to be suspicious in nature and investigation continues under the direction of his department.
The fire was reported contained at 8:56 p.m. with several units assigned to overnight monitoring. Units remained on scene throughout the night and well into Tuesday afternoon in effort to prevent re-ignition. BC Sapeta said that monitoring will continue for at least the remainder of the week. “What happens,” he said, “is the fire gets into the root system and presents a concern for re-ignition in the unburned areas.”
A hot spot was discovered around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, which was quickly extinguished.
Full response from multiple county agencies was immediately requested following report of the fire around 6:40 p.m. Suppression tactics on the blaze, which was situated among heavy brush in a remote location off of 12th Avenue, included aerial attack as well as ground strike.
BC Sapeta said the initial concern was stopping the fire from moving forward. “We started with a direct attack on the fire on the flanks,” he said. “Basically, we continued that until the aircraft arrived and that”s what really stopped the progression of the fire so ground resources could finish containment.”
BC Sapeta said that there weren”t immediate threats presented during the incident. “We anticipated the fire going southeast a little bit more and going down Dam Road but we had resources in place that prevented that,” he said.
The suppression effort included response of 15 engines, two medic units, four hand crews, two dozers, two air tankers and two helicopters. BC Sapeta and CALFIRE BC Mike Wink provided unified command on the incident.
CALFIRE provided three engines, three hand crews and water tender for overnight monitoring; LCFPD left a water tender on scene as well.
Contact South County reporter Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com or call her directly at 994-6444, ext. 11.
