Containment increases on Golf fire; mapping reduces acreage
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – Firefighters are close to reaching full containment on the wildland fire that began burning on Thursday afternoon on the side of Mount Konocti.
Cal Fire said Friday evening that the Golf fire was up to 75 percent containment, with the agency rolling back its estimate of the size from 33 acres to 20.
The acreage change was the result of accurate mapping during daylight hours, combined with getting a better picture of the site that had been obscured by dense canopy and heavy timber, Cal Fire said.
The fire began just before 1 p.m. Thursday at Soda Bay Road and Golf Drive in the Black Forest, pushing up and away from the Buckingham subdivision but moving uphill aggressively in a direction that put the homes in Riviera West and Riviera Heights in its path.
That led to an evacuation order for Riviera West and evacuation warning for Riviera Heights on Thursday afternoon, with Pacific Gas and Electric asked to cut power to 260 customers in Riviera West.
No homes were damaged or destroyed, and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office lifted both the evacuation order and the warning early Friday afternoon, shortly afterPG&E reported that the power had been restored to Riviera West homes.
By Friday afternoon, most road closures also had been lifted, with the exception of Soda Bay Road from Golf Drive to Crystal Drive.
Along that stretch of road on Friday, numerous fire engines, crew transports and the trucks belonging to overhead personnel filled the roadway while firefighters continued to hike into the steep hillsides of the Black Forest to strengthen containment lines.
Fire Prevention Specialist Bruce Lang of Cal Fire was at the scene on Friday afternoon, with the fire leading to him having to cancel the Smokey Bear birthday party he was set to lead at Clear Lake State Park later in the evening.
Lang said the fire had been driven both by steep terrain and winds on Thursday.
“Mount Konocti can give you some problems with the winds,” he said.
There have been long standing concerns about fire danger on the mountain and the danger it poses to the thousands of homes along its base and slopes. On Thursday, as the fire began to push toward homes and evacuations were called, those fears seemed about to come true.
However, Lang said the combination of air resources – including the tankers that dropped retardant and the helicopters that made countless water drops, pulling water from nearby Clear Lake – plus the ground crews helped stop the fire before it could cause major damage to homes or wildland.
On Friday, Lang said they couldn’t have asked for better weather conditions. That was thanks to a low pressure system moving across interior Northern California, which offered cooler and more humid weather conditions, along with little daytime wind, conditions that Lang said were highly favorable to the firefighting work. Earlier that day, he said there had even been a light sprinkling of raindrops.
On Soda Bay Road, below the firefighting line, it was hard to see through the terrain and trees to where personnel were at work.
Across the way, at the Buckingham golf course, where golfers were busy on the course throughout the afternoon, a thin white column of smoke could be seen rising from the fire area, which stood out from the hillside both because of the burned area and due to the lines of pink fire retardant dropped the previous day by the tankers.
Up close, thanks to the retardant lines, parts of the Black Forest, including some of its landmark jutting boulders, had turned pink. The pink retardant also was across the road and on nearby homes. Piles of fire hose also dotted the side of the road.
In recent days, crews had been doing vegetation removal along Soda Bay Road near where the fire started, and on Friday there remained numerous green dumpsters filled with cut branches, alongside large slash piles. Several area residents have contacted Lake County News about their concerns that the vegetation removal, including the use of chainsaws, was connected to the fire.
Cal Fire said the cause remains under investigation.
The resources that remained assigned to the fire as of Friday evening included 15 engines, three water tenders, three helicopters, five hand crews, two dozers and 155 personnel, Cal Fire said.
Cal Fire said firefighters will continue strengthening the containment lines throughout the night.
Along with Cal Fire, cooperating agencies include the Bureau of Land Management, which manages the Black Forest, Kelseyville Fire Protection District, Lake County Fire Protection District, Lakeport Fire Protection District, South Lake Fire Protection District, Marin County Fire Department, city of Colusa, Williams Fire Protection Authority, City of Lake County Sheriff’s Office, PG&E and the California Highway Patrol.
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