UPPER LAKE >> A Jackson woman was reportedly intoxicated when the vehicle she was driving crashed into an embankment on Highway 20 Wednesday afternoon causing a wildland fire that has taken more than 24 hours to control.
As of press time, the fire was 90-percent contained and Cal Fire expected to be working aggressively throughout Thursday evening, according to Cal Fire Captain Joe Fletcher.
“We”re working on really steep and tough terrain and that”s why it”s taking a while,” Fletcher said.
Around 100 acres have burned and a residence, which included a double-wide mobile home, garage, outbuildings, a travel trailer and a boat, was destroyed.
“The residence lost everything,” Northshore Fire Protection District Chief Jay Beristianos said. “There was absolutely nothing to be salvaged.”
Power lines and polls were also damaged and Beristianos said he heard that one firefighter sustained an injury, although he didn”t have further details. No other department involved reported news of injury.
The driver of the vehicle, Shellie D. Boulais, 52 of Jackson, was traveling east on Highway 20 when she careened off the road into a ditch west of the Highland Springs Road intersection just before 4 p.m. The crash caused the fire, which spread to both sides of Highway 20.
The heavily traveled road was closed down until 8:30 p.m. when it was reopened to one-way traffic. California Highway Patrol (CHP) reported the driver fled from the scene of the crash. She was later seen hiding in brush by someone passing by and Beristianos reported that he and other firefighters pulled her out of the brush and turned her into CHP.
Boulias sustained minor injuries from the crash and was treated at Sutter Lakeside Hospital, according the CHP report. She was arrested for driving under the influence and booked into the Lake County Jail.
Northshore, Kelseyville, Lakeport and Middletown Fire districts, Cal Fire, Lake County Fire, the California Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, CHP, Cal Trans and the Lake County Sheriff”s Office responded to the fire.
“We had them all,” Beristianos said.
All Lake County fire resources were released and Highway 20 was fully opened to traffic early Thursday morning.
