LOWER LAKE >> This community of about 1,500 people celebrated two anniversaries on Sunday, one a happy affair and the other a more somber event.
The day marked the first anniversary of the start of the Clayton Fire and, ironically, the 75th anniversary of the Lake County Fire Protection District that serves Lower Lake and Clearlake.
Both anniversaries were observed during an open house at the Lower Lake fire station on Main Street from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.
Several hundred area residents joined with several dozen firefighters to mark the two anniversaries at the open house in the fire house. Station staff provided free grilled hamburgers and hot dogs along with desserts, including decorative cupcakes baked by the fire chief’s wife.
“The fire department is the backbone of the community,” said Fire Chief Willie Sapeta. “We’re here to support them and a lot of the programs we run for community outreach. We’re here for the long run.”
The Clayton Fire started on Aug. 13, 2016, along Clayton Creek Road in Lower Lake, burned nearly 4,000 acres and destroyed about 300 structures, including nearly 200 homes and a dozen businesses in the historic downtown area.
A Clearlake construction worker, Damin Anthony Pashilk, 40, has been charged with 17 counts of arson in connection with the Clayton Fire and other blazes.
Chief Sapeta was one of the first firefighters to arrive on the scene of the Clayton Fire last Aug. 13.
“My first thoughts were how do we evacuate all the people and am I going to get everyone out fast enough” he said.
At one point during the fire, Sapeta said he heard radio traffic from aircraft battling the blaze stating that 50 homes were fully involved in flames.
“That was very hard,” the chief said.
Sapeta talked about the perfect storm of events that caused the fire to quickly spread from Clayton Creek Road to Main Street in Lower Lake.
These events included single digit humidity, double digit winds and temperatures in the triple digits plus a lengthy drought and millions of trees killed by the bark beetle, providing abundant fuel.
“The outcome of the fire could not have been changed no matter how many resources we had,” Sapeta said. “The fire just exploded and rapidly increased in size. I knew then that it had the potential to become another Valley Fire.”
He said the weather forecast for that day did not predict conditions favorable to fire spread, especially the high, gusty winds. This became obvious when the chief arrived at the main blaze and instantly saw spot fires breaking out everywhere as embers blew well ahead of the main blaze
“There was nothing we could do about changing the fire’s behavior,” he said. “We saw fire behavior that we’d never seen before. The fire services and the community learned a lot about fire safety and preparedness.”
He added that the mutual aid and automatic response agreements between the county’s fire districts, Cal Fire and other counties is critical to responding quickly to wildland fires.
“We’re small in numbers but when we come together, we come together,” he said.
The open house included a table selling t-shirts commemorating both the Clayton Fire and the fire department’s 75th anniversary and a booth sponsored by Habitat for Humanity, which has helped in the rebuilding efforts.
“I wanted to come out and show my support for the fire department,” said Patti Diener of Lower Lake whose husband is a battalion chief with the department. “Without the fire department, we would not have a town.”
She said of the open house, “It’s fabulous to have everyone get together and support the community because community is everything.”
Linda Shields lives in Clearlake but grew up in Lower Lake and said she supports everything the fire department does. “They give back to the community so much more than putting out fires.”
Of course, she’s a bit biased as she has a son and two nephews who are firefighters.
“It’s wonderful for Lower Lake residents to celebrate after what they went through,” she said. “This is a small community and so many of the people who live here grew up here as did their parents and grandparents.”
As hard as she tried, Debbie Grizz of Lower Lake — whose son works for Cal Fire — couldn’t hold back tears as she recalled her memories of the Clayton Fire.
“I watched everything I knew go up in flames,” she said. “I watched the Lower Lake church, where I and my children were baptized, burn down. I watched so much go away but now I’m seeing new things happening here because of the community pulling together.”
Representatives from Cal Fire and Northshore Fire Prevention District attended the open house, bringing along several of their fire vehicles.
