LOWER LAKE — Update: The Glass Incident was reported fully contained at a total of 28 acres by Cal Fire Thursday at 7 p.m.
A cluster of small wildfires titled the “Glass Incident” by Cal Fire swelled to 20 acres total overnight Wednesday and was 80 percent contained by mid-morning Thursday, according to the agency.
“Cooler temperatures and higher humidities helped fire crews make significant progress overnight,” a Cal Fire report states.”
No injuries were sustained and no structures were threatened by the fires, Cal Fire spokesman Bruce Lang said.
First responders were dispatched at 4:26 p.m. Wednesday to the fires, which were strung out across a distance of several miles near Highway 29 between Lower Lake and Kelseyville.
Lang said distinct spots of fire had broken out around the same time along the highway. Lang said these were located near Point Lakeview Road, DNA Ridge Rock Quarry, Manning Flat Road, Soda Bay Road and Bottle Rock Road. Three small fires were grouped at the Soda Bay Road locale, bringing the total spots to seven.
“This was not spotting from a fire,” Lang said, referring to the phenomenon of embers from a wildfire being carried on the wind and starting smaller fires nearby. In this case, each fire was not caused by the others.
Lang said his first thought had been that a “chain dragging” from a vehicle could have caused the fires, but added that this was only conjecture, and emphasized that Cal Fire was investigating the cause of the incident.
As of press time Thursday afternoon, the fires’ cause was still listed as “unknown.”
California Highway Patrol incident logs from Wednesday noted a possible arson suspect at the scene of the fires, who was described as a clean-shaven 25-30 year old caucasian man wearing a dirty white shirt. The potential suspect was noted to have been traveling north on Point Lakeview Road.
CHP Public Information Officer Oligario Marin confirmed Thursday that law enforcement officers had been notified of the potential suspect via a dispatch from Lake County Probation, noted in CHP logs at 4:42 p.m. Wednesday.
“All officers would also be B.O.L.O-ing for that individual,” Marin said, meaning they would have been on the lookout. Marin said the suspect information had been transferred to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin declined to “confirm or deny” whether law enforcement was tracking an arson suspect in connection with the Glass incident.
CHP Public Information Officer Joel Skeen said Thursday that “no arrests” had been made relating to the incident, and that the cause of the fires was still unknown.
By 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, 172 personnel had responded to the Glass incident, according to Cal Fire. These included members of Cal Fire, three local fire districts, California Highway Patrol, and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. This included four water tenders, 15 engines, three helicopters, four hand crews, four dozers and four air tankers.
Highway 29 was closed at multiple locations for several hours, but opened by Thursday.
Crews remained overnight, said Cal Fire, strengthening containment lines and extinguishing hot spots.
By 7 a.m. Thursday, the blazes were 80 percent contained overall at 20 acres, with 55 personnel still assigned to the incident.
Cal Fire spokesman Lang said full containment would depend on progress Thursday.
“It all just hinges on how today goes,” he said. Lang added that suppression efforts had been successful from early on with the blazes, due in part to good communication.
“The communication was exceptional between the Emergency Command Center and the engines, battalions and aircraft,” Lang said. “That makes a really big difference… It could have been a lot worse.”
