LAKE COUNTY — Fire crews and emergency personnel continued battling a trio of fires in Lake County late into Sunday night.
Two large wildfires broke out in eastern Lake County — both just before 4 p.m. Sunday — and a third, smaller blaze occurred outside of Lakeport about 7:30 p.m.
Fire crews stopped the progression of the 10-acre fire near Highway 175 but had zero percent containment on the pair of fires along Highway 20, according to CAL FIRE.
“The fires are still burning completely out of control,” Sheriff Frank Rivero said Sunday night.
The most significant fire, located near the intersection highways 20 and 53 east of Clearlake Oaks, reached 5,000 acres, CAL FIRE reported as of 11:30 p.m. Sunday.
Mandatory evacuations were in place for Spring Valley. An evacuation center is set up at the Moose Lodge in Clearlake Oaks, Rivero said.
One structure was destroyed, CAL FIRE said Sunday evening. The fire was burning on both sides of Highway 20.
The second blaze started near Highway 20 east of Walker Ridge Road. CAL FIRE reported the fire as reaching 400 acres, as of 11:30 p.m. It continued to burn on the north side of Highway 20.
A total of 400 personnel responded between the two fires.
Highway 20 is closed from Highway 53 near Clearlake Oaks to Highway 16 in Colusa County. Caltrans said there was no timetable for reopening the road.
The third fire, located on Highway 175 (Hopland) outside of Lakeport, scorched about 10 acres, CAL FIRE battalion chief Julie Hutchinson said.
Crews stopped the forward rate of the Highway 175 blaze within three hours, she said.
Highway 175 was closed from Matthews Road to near the Lake-Mendocino county line. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) said the area could reopen between 3 and 4 a.m. Monday.
CAL FIRE did not identify the causes of the fires. The CHP website reported someone in a red pickup sparked the fire off Highway 175 after throwing something from the truck.
This story will be updated as new information becomes available. Photographs and additional information can be found at http://www.facebook.com/recordbee.
