NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – As the holiday weekend wrapped up, state and local firefighters continued work on two large wildland fires in the region, as well as other incidents elsewhere in Northern California.
Cal Fire's Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit reported Sunday evening that the Butts Fire remained steady at 4,300 burned acres, with containment rising to 85 percent.
The fire began burning last Tuesday in Pope Valley, northwest of Lake Berryessa in Napa County, before burning into Lake County.
The number of fire personnel assigned to the Butts Fire on Sunday was 323, down by more than half from Saturday. Cal Fire said 15 fire engines, 10 fire crews, two dozers and four water tenders also remained on the incident.
In Yolo County, the Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit also is overseeing a larger incident – the Monticello Fire – which began Friday night on Highway 128 at the Monticello Dam on the southeast shore of Lake Berryessa.
On Sunday evening Cal Fire dialed back its size estimate on the fire from 7,000 acres to 6,488 acres, with containment at 30 percent.
An evacuation order for all residences on Highway 128 from County Road 87 to Positas Road was to have been lifted at 8 p.m. Sunday and the evacuation shelter was closed. Officials said campgrounds along Highway 128 remain under the evacuation order.
Cal Fire said County Road 87 to Positas Road on Hwy 128 remains closed except to residents due to the fire, the cause of which is under investigation.
Three injuries have been reported so far, Cal Fire said.
A total of 1,275 fire personnel, 124 fire engines, 36 fire crews, six air tankers, 16 helicopters, 48 dozers and 20 water tenders were assigned on Sunday, according to Cal Fire.
The Butts and Monticello fires have both put off large amounts of smoke that has drifted north over Lake County and other parts of the region, according to officials.
Elsewhere in Northern California, Cal Fire was overseeing firefighting efforts on the Cassel Fire, which has burned 75 acres since Saturday evening in Shasta County. That fire was 75 percent contained on Sunday night.
The Gulch Fire, which began July 3 in Modoc County along Highway 139 north of Canby, consists of five separate fires and by Sunday night had burned 1,469 acres, with containment at 90 percent, Cal Fire said.
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