LOWER LAKE >> Law enforcement officers arrested Damin Anthony Pashilk on Monday, accusing the 40-year-old Clearlake resident of starting the Clayton Fire. The announcement came late on Monday evening at a brief press conference, following Gov. Jerry Brown’s declaration of a state of emergency to cover the fire are.
Pashilk is accused of 17 counts related to arson, but authorities released little more at press time.
The Clayton Fire, which has devastated parts of Lower Lake since igniting on Saturday evening, destroyed more than 175 homes, business and other structures. But firefighters on Monday held the blaze to only 50 acres of growth thanks to improved progress by an armada of fire crews in the burn zone.
“Today was a much better day than yesterday,” Napa County fire chief Barry Biermann said at a town hall meeting at Kelseyville High School, “Our priority has been the residences all the way along highway 53 — the ones that were impacted, the ones were evacuated — and the fire never made it to there. That’s where we are concentrating the majority of our efforts right now, to make sure that’s secure.”
Further details weren’t made available to the public, but Lake County firefighters received plenty of help from other agencies statewide. Together they amassed a team of 1,443 firefighters — including 6 air tankers, 12 helicopters and 192 fire engines — that blunted the fire and directed it to the east and away from populated areas.
Despite the good news, official containment is sitting at 5 percent, the same as on Sunday.
And the damage has been done. According to Cal Fire’s current estimates at press time, the flames have engulfed 4,000 acres and destroyed at least 175 structures in Lower Lake. Among the buildings were the old Lower Lake firehouse, the Lower Lake United Methodist Church and the Tuscan Village.
Critical structural damage was also sustained to more than four portables at Lower Lake Elementary School, Lake County Superintendent Brock Falkenberg said. Additionally, smoke and soot infiltrated Konocti Unified School District, forcing the closures of its ten schools for the rest of the week.
“That’ll have to be addressed before we can safely put staff and students back on the premises,” Falkenberg said, adding that the portables were insured.
Meanwhile, thousands of Clearlake and Lower Lake residents were forced to evacuate in the last 48 hours as the fire, which started early Saturday evening, erupted into a local disaster. By Monday afternoon, Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for the fire.
“We’ve had a tragic incident here in Lake County again and we are doing everything we can to support the county,” Jodie Traversaro of the California Office of Emergency Services said. “I think this community has been terribly impacted over the past year from several fires. Our goals are to save lives, community and the environment.”
Among the evacuees were the 16 patients of St. Helena Hospital in Clearlake, who were sent to Lakeport’s Sutter Lakeside Hospital Lakeport. Other evacuees from southeastern Lake County — along Morgan Valley Road, Bonham Road and the Avenues — were sent to established evacuation centers either at Twin Pine Casino in Middletown, the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Lakeport or Kelseyville High School.
Evacuees were originally sent to Highlands Senior Center near Olympic Drive in Clearlake, but the fire knocked out power to the Senior Center and most of Clearlake. At one point Sunday more than 8,000 people were without electricity, but more than 75 percent were restored that evening.
Internet and cell phone services were knocked out in some areas, too. In fact, all Mediacom services were shut down around parts of the county — even in Lakeport and Middletown — as fiber optic cables and other infrastructure were damaged or destroyed.
But help is on its way, State Sen. Mike McGuire said at a press conference in Middletown on Sunday night.
“The California Office of Emergency Services is in contact right now with AT&T and even local providers,” McGuire said. “They have already sent crews into the county to be able to work on all issues.
Further assistance is also coming from the federal government, Rep. Mike Thompson announced at the town hall.
According to him, Washington was asked to participate in a fire management assistance grant program. It was approved yesterday, he said, and may cover up to 75 percent of the total cost to fight the fire.
There have been no reports of death or serious injury, according to fire officials. Only one minor injury has been reported, according to Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin.
“We’re knocking on doors doing everything we can to get people out of there,” he said. “My goal is to keep it that way… lives are what we are looking to protect here.”
The fire started around 6 p.m. on Saturday at Clayton Creek Road in Lower Lake. By early Sunday it had grown to 1,400 acres with almost no containment.
About that time, firefighters were optimistic about controlling the flames because the winds weren’t heavy. But the winds picked up to an estimated 15 to 20 mph around 2 p.m. The inferno jumped over the 1800 block of Morgan Valley Road and began moving toward the east side of Clearlake.
State Highway 53 was closed from its intersection with Highway 29 all the way to Highway 20. A portion of Highway 29 leading out of Lower Lake was also closed.
Roads were reopened around 7 p.m. on Monday.
