LAKE COUNTY — Wind speeds that reached nearly 20 mph caused power outages and fire in Lake County Tuesday evening. The most significant outage, according to PG&E spokesperson Brandi Ehlers, affected 3,140 customers in the Kelseyville and Lucerne areas.
The outage that affected the 3,140 customers was caused by a downed tree that fell into a power line. Ehlers said the large power outage initiated just before 9 p.m. and continued to about 10:30 p.m. “Other than that we did have quit a few smaller power outages but they didn”t affect very many customers,” she said.
Ehlers said a downed tree knocked power out around 9:10 p.m. in the Cobb Mountain area. She said the outage initially affected 60 customers; however, some customers were quickly restored with power while restoration to the final 10 was expected by 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Southlake County Fire Protection District (SCFPD) was dispatched at 9:10 p.m. to the Cobb Mountain area when the downed line ignited a fire in the area of Carolyn Drive near Hoberg”s Resort. SCFPD Battalion Chief Scott Upton said the downed line caused brush to ignite, threatening two nearby homes.
Upton said the homes were only slightly damaged in the blaze. He commended the efforts of the suppression crew as well as the homeowners for maintaining adequate defensible space. “The quick response and aggressive initial attack allowed us to knock down the fire in 15 minutes,” he said. “The defensible space around these two homes made all the difference, allowing us to protect these two houses.”
SCFPD responded with four engines, two water tenders, a hand crew, battalion chief and six firefighters. He said a bulldozer was dispatched as well. Fire units remained on scene conducting mop-up until 3:30 a.m.
