LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Labor Day, which signals the close of summer, proved a busy one for local firefighters.

On Monday, firefighters from Cal Fire, Northshore Fire Protection District and Lake County Fire Protection District responded to mid-afternoon blazes, one involving a small amount of vegetation, the other burning a home.

Just after 1 p.m. firefighters were dispatched to a fire on Morgan Valley Road and Stanley Lane, according to Lake County Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Willie Sapeta.

Firefighters arrived at the fire, about four miles out Morgan Valley Road, about 10 minutes after it initially was dispatched, containing it by 1:30 p.m., Sapeta said.

Seven engines from Cal Fire and Lake County Fire responded, he said, along with two crews and two battalion chiefs.

In all, it burned about four acres, he said.

“There was one structure threatened but no damage to it,” Sapeta said.

He said firefighters had an hour and a half of mop up before getting back in quarters shortly before 4:30 p.m.

“The cause is still under investigation,” he said.

At about 2:45 p.m., a modular home was reported on fire at 3078 Wolf Creek Road in Spring Valley, said Northshore Fire Battalion Chief Pat Brown.

A Spring Valley fire engine arrived first on scene and reported heavy smoke coming from the home's attic, Brown said.

The next two vehicles to arrive were a fire engine and water tender from Northshore Fire's Clearlake Oaks station. Brown said those firefighters couldn't stop the fire because it was burning in the attic space.

“It pretty well ran the attic,” he said.

The next two engines to arrive had to do an 1,800-foot-long hose lay because, as Brown noted, “The hydrants are just too far apart” in Spring Valley. Each engine has about 1,400 feet of hose.

In addition to needing to stretch hose, the water had to be pumped because the home sat up above the road, he said.

Northshore Fire sent a total of four engines and a water tender, while Cal Fire sent a full wildland response of five engines, plus a helicopter and hand crews, Brown said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“We had some issues when we first got there,” he said, noting, “The ceiling did collapse on the first team in.”

However, he said no firefighters were injured.

They were able to save a lot of the home's contents, and Brown estimated 50 to 60 percent of the home was actually lost.

He said the fire is under investigation by the county's arson task force and the sheriff's office, with the building being turned over to the sheriff's office after the fire was put out.

In other news this weekend, a drowning was reported to have taken place in the Clearlake Park area on Saturday.

Sapeta was able to confirm the drowning but he said he was not on for the call and additional details weren't immediately available Monday.

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