LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Firefighters on Thursday kept the Valley fire acreage from growing and continued mop up while thousands of Cobb residents remained under evacuation due to continuing utility repairs and hazard removal.
Cal Fire said the fire size remained at 76,067, with containment up again to 87 percent.
The tally of destroyed structures remained at 1,910 on Thursday, including 1,238 single-family residences, 23 multi-family residences, 64 commercial properties and 585 other minor structures, according to a California Office of Emergency Services report.
Cal OES also reported that an additional 37 single-family residences were damaged, along with six commercial properties and 47 other minor structures.
On Thursday evening, residents of Anderson Springs were able to return home. Approximately 17 homes out of 200 survived, according to community resident Voris Brumfield, whose own home made it through.
She said her neighbors have expressed their plans to rebuild in the close-knit community.
With Anderson Springs' repopulation, Cobb remains the only community whose thousands of residents have not been able to go home.
Approximately 2,953 homes there remain threatened, according to Cal Fire, with Cal OES reporting that the ongoing evacuations are impacting more than 9,000 residents.
At a Thursday briefing on the fire, a Cobb resident asked local and state officials why community members there couldn't yet go home.
“The Valley fire is much, much more than a fire,” but rather a disaster in scope, said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mike Smith.
As such, Smith said there is a lengthy check process involving many partners – agencies at various levels and utilities companies – that ensures that when people go home it will be safe.
Smith noted that part of the challenge is having to rebuild 100 years' worth of infrastructure in seven to 10 days.
Supervisor Rob Brown also said at the briefing that the process of making repairs to utilities and removing hazards would take longer if crews had to work around residents returning to their homes.
Total fire personnel assigned on Thursday totaled 2,520 – down from more than 4,400 firefighters at its height – plus 186 engines, 69 hand crews, 33 water tenders, 19 dozers and seven helicopters, Cal Fire said.
While Smith said there is a massive demobilization in place as crews are released from the incident, “There will still be firefighters on scene in the weeks ahead.”
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Valley fire: Acreage remains at standstill, hazards keep Cobb under evacuation
- Elizabeth Larson
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