LEESVILLE >> Firefighters appear to have corralled a wildland fire that erupted Sunday evening on sparsely populated land near the Indian Valley Reservoir close to the Colusa County line.
The outline of the Reservoir Fire remained at 215 acres on Monday afternoon, with CalFire reporting 25 percent containment.
For a time on Sunday the blaze threatened to spread wildly as winds whipped through the ridges. The fire was reported early in the evening, with smoke spotted in Lake County, 7 miles southwest of the Colusa County community of Leesville. At 8 p.m. it had covered an estimated 5 to 6 acres. An hour later firefighters measured the blaze at 20 acres, with scanner reports claiming flames were “out of control.”
By 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, CalFire pegged the damage at 250 acres. Crews on the scene noted that forward progress was driven by wind gusts.
On Monday morning, however, firefighters gained a measure of control. They established a successful containment line and reduced the estimated damaged to 215 acres.
It was a busy Sunday for fire crews elsewhere in Lake and nearby counties. They subdued the Creek Fire, which broke out in Yolo County near the Cache Creek Casino, at 277 acres. Teams from Northshore, Lakeport and Kelseyville joined CalFire and U.S. Forest Service firefighters to knock down a blaze along Highway 20 near Blue Lakes.
Among several smaller incidents was one that scorched a small plot of land at Lakeport Cinema 5. The theater did not suffer any damage, but fencing on the drive in property, as well as some communication wires, were burned.
The most destructive fire activity is concentrated in Southern California — with the Border, Sherpa and San Gabriel Complex fires — and the much larger Erskine Fire in Central California’s Kern County.
The Erskine fire had consumed 45,388 acres as of Monday afternoon, claiming two lives and destroying 200 homes. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency to aid victims of the blaze. Almost 3,000 firefighters have gained 40 percent containment.
