Lower Lake >> A string of spot fires sparked up within minutes of each other near the edge of the road on Highway 29 Monday afternoon.
The section of the highway was closed off for about an hour due to heavy smoke as fire crews battled a series of six small wildland fires north of the intersection of Highways 29 and 53 near Lower Lake, Lake County Fire Protection District (LCFPD) Chief Willie Sapeta said.
Six engines from LCFPD and Cal Fire as well as Kelseyville and Northshore fire protection districts responded along with a medic unit, though no one was reported injured.
All were relatively small fires, with the largest blaze at 20 by 40 feet in size. Five were on the northbound section from about Lee Barr Drive up to almost Seigler Canyon Road and another on the southbound side, Sapeta said.
Multiple calls came in reporting the fires at 3:45 p.m. Within minutes, law enforcement directed one-way traffic before briefly enacting a full road closure in the area. By 5 p.m. the highway was once again open to all traffic after crews gained control of the blazes.
Prevention officers were back out on the field Tuesday morning investigating a possible cause, but Sapeta said they’ve already ruled out arson.
With the fires so close in proximity to the edge of the road, the chief said it’s highly unlikely that someone could have stepped out of their car to light so many fires without going noticed.
“For somebody to go light those fires, that’s not even an option,” Sapeta said.
More likely, the fires were set off by a vehicle malfunction such as chains dragging on the road or hot pieces of metal lighting a spark, “investigators are out there to try and determined how they started,” he said.
Such malfunctions have been the cause of major fires, including last year’s Wragg fire in Napa County. According to Cal Fire, vehicle exhaust ignited dry grass which then burned surrounding brush and eventually consumed roughly 8,000 acres.
Monday’s fires are a reminder that although it’s technically not fire season, the threat remains.
“People should still be conscientious that there’s still potential of wildland fires,” Sapeta said. “Yesterday proves it.”
He says people should still remain alert and firewise, noting the California’s One Less Spark—One Less Wildfire campaign, which emphasizes that 90 percent of fires are caused by people and gives information on how to prevent them from happening.
To find out more, visit http://www.preventwildfireca.org/.
