Editor’s Note: Per a notification by LCSD at Thursday: All evacuation warnings in Lake County related to the Kincade Fire are now lifted.
MIDDLETOWN— Local government officials, Cal Fire unit commanders, in addition to state government representatives, updated residents Wednesday at a town hall meeting at Twin Pines Hotel and Casino where they elaborated on efforts to assist residents affected by the recent PG&E power shut-offs as well as informed the public in regards to the destructive Kincade vegetation fire.
Cal Fire officials noted that heavy wind periods and pushes during the day posed the biggest problem in fire fighting. They said the fire progressed in a southward motion over the course of several days. In addition, officials noted that anytime Red Flag warning conditions exist, that is when they expect to see the biggest areas of a fire grow, which is exactly what occurred.
According to a Cal Fire incident report issued Thursday morning, the fire had grown to 76,825 acres but had been more than 60 percent contained. Fire fighters were able to build a dozer line and hand lines in their efforts to suppress the fire in addition to utilizing several levels of retardant, officials said.
More than 600 engines, 48 water tenders, 27 helicopters and nearly 100 hand crews were among the resources working in unison to control the fire.
At the meeting, Shana Jones, unit chief for Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa unit, gave a timeline of fire agencies’ response to the Red Flag warning all the way up to Wednesday. She said the Red Flag warning called for high winds and low humidity. “For those of you who’ve lived in Lake County for long periods of time you know that is not a good recipe, it’s a recipe for disaster,” said Jones adding that the fire was 75 percent contained through the efforts of about 5000 personnel who were assigned to the incident. “They are making great progress,” she said.
Cal Fire’s report indicated they estimated the fire to be fully contained by November 7. Four first responders were injured to date, but no civilian injuries or fatalities were reported. The fire’s total devastation includes 282 destroyed structures and 50 damaged.
Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) said over the past several years members of the legislature have worked hard to make sure Cal Fire crews have the funding to do their jobs. “In the past they didn’t have the best equipment to do that, we didn’t have the best communication, unfortunately lessons learned. We have worked very hard making sure that we can provide the things that our community needs to be successful and to make sure we cut down those fires sooner,” she said.
Senator Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) addressed the PG&E power shut-offs and said the power outages added insult to injury to fire ravaged communities which have been impacted by multiple emergencies over the past several years. “There are many communities throughout our region that have not had power six of the last seven days. Lake County has been impacted with four planned power outages over the last 30 days. This is unacceptable, this is not a new reality, let’s call it what it is, it’s a debacle.”
Lake County Sheriff Brian Martin said law enforcement started evacuation warnings on Oct. 25 in areas of the county that have been heavily impacted by fire over the last several years. “We want to make sure that you as communities were safe, that you have plenty of time to prepare, when you look at how fast fire is capable of traveling around here…because of that, we made the decision to issue evacuation warnings,” he said noting similarities in the rate of spread between the 2015 Valley Fire and the current incident. Martin added that until the fire no longer posed a danger, law enforcement officials intend to keep evacuation warnings in Middletown and nearby areas place.
District 1 Supervisor Moke Simon thanked residents for being patient. “I know how stressful this is, many phone calls and conversations with folks who are rebuilding their homes.”
Although there has been a lot of attention placed in Sonoma, Simon added there are a lot of resources and people working really hard and said emergency and governmental agencies are getting better prepared each year to handle fire emergencies. “We are a priority on this end of the fire,” he said, adding that there were people from all over the country putting their lives on the line. “They are doing everything they can to help us.”
