CLEARLAKE, Calif. — On Sunday, almost three weeks after the complete containment of the Boyles fire, Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency exists in the city of Clearlake as a result of the incident.

The Boyles fire began around 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 8, in the area of Boyles Avenue and Dam Road.

It was fully contained at 81.2 acres on Sept. 11.

The fire caused immense economic losses that initial estimates have put in the millions. The destruction included 35 homes, 32 garages and outbuildings, and 79 vehicles. Another three homes and four garages and outbuildings were damaged. More than 4,000 residents were evacuated.

For the city of Clearlake and the people impacted by the fire, “It’s huge,” Mayor David Claffey said of the gubernatorial emergency declaration. “Without it, we would struggle to meet the needs of the residents that were impacted.”

City Manager Alan Flora agreed.

“We don’t have a way to help folks really because the estimated damage is $14 million; We have an $8 million general fund,” Flora told Lake County News in an interview after the Clearlake City Council candidates’ Forum on Monday evening. “It's going to be huge for the residents that were impacted.”

Newsom’s emergency declaration notes, “State agencies shall enter into contracts to arrange for the procurement of materials, goods, and services necessary to quickly assist with the response to and recovery from the impacts of the Boyles Fire.”

Flora expects the declaration to “open doors” for fundings to redress some infrastructure damages such as road damage in the city and smoke damage in the community college and the middle schools.

But the biggest impact he anticipates will be on the residents who lost their homes and businesses that have had loss of revenue from the fire and power outages.

“This is going to bring a lot more resources,” Flora said of the governor’s declaration.

Ongoing cleanups

Last week, household hazardous waste cleanup was completed, Flora said. This week, the watershed assessment team will start to install “best management practices” to protect the sites before rain.

“We don't want a big storm washing the ash and everything into the creek,” Flora said.

The next step, Flora said, will be the final debris cleanup. CalRecycle will have contractors coming in to “remove the vehicles, to goop out all the ash, all the burst stuff, and haul it away,” he explained.

“So that, we're hoping, will start in six to eight weeks,” Flora said.

When asked why it will take this long, Flora said there could be some administrative processes and proposal requests.

In the declaration, the governor orders that all requirements and rules that fall within related offices and departments are “suspended to the extent necessary for expediting the removal and cleanup of debris from the Boyles Fire in Lake County or to address other impacts associated with that debris, for implementing any restoration plan necessary for mitigation of the effects of the emergency.”

Flora said that “one of the ideas (of the state of emergency) is you can wipe out all procurement stuff; that is part of the governor’s declaration.” Yet, “I don’t know the inner workings of why it takes so long,” Flora said.

As of Tuesday evening, the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services had not responded to Lake County News’ email inquiry on the timeline of the debris removal for Boyles fire.

How do residents impacted by the fire get access to the resources?

“They need to contact us,” said Flora. “This means more resources for them to get back on their feet and to get back into, hopefully, a new house on that property … We’re here to help them recover from this.”

Flora said most of the direct assistance to homeowners and businesses will run through the Small Business Administration, which will set up a base at Clearlake City Hall soon to meet directly with clients and help get resources to them.

So far, 17 families — 35 total individuals who lost their homes to the fire — have reached out to the city for help. Right now, 10 families totaling 24 people are in hotel rooms and the rest in some type of rental housing. North Coast Opportunities, the nonprofit that has been helping with housing, is trying to transition the 10 families into some rental housing too, said Flora.

Some people have offered to help go in and clean up damaged properties and others have even reached out about how to get building permits to start rebuilding, according to Flora. “They’re really motivated,” he said with a smile.

But Flora recommended waiting for the state to do the cleanup: “Now that we got this declaration, it’s probably best to just let the state come in and do all that.”

The state will test the soil and remove the contaminated parts until it’s clean, Flora explained. “They just are going to do a more thorough job.”

Email Lingzi Chen at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..