CA Wildfire Erupts While Another Still Grows

July 1, 2018

A new wildfire erupted in Yolo County on Saturday afternoon just as firefighters began fearing the Pawnee Fire in Lake County would begin growing again.

By Meg McConahey

Source The Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, Calif.

The County Fire burning in Yolo County, CA, on Saturday, June 30, 2018.

July 01 -- Two wildfires raging through Lake and Yolo counties grew overnight, with the new County Fire that broke out in the grasslands of the Capay Valley Saturday afternoon spreading into rural Napa County.

CalFire said the Yolo fire, officially named the County Fire, had burned through 16,500 acres by Sunday morning and was at zero containment.

The fire had spread over Blue Ridge in the Mt. Vaca area of Napa County, but remained in the wildland and had taken no structures, Cal Fire spokesman Will Davis said.

Firefighters worked through the night to create control lines under ”Red Flag” weather conditions of dry heat and gusty winds.

“The biggest concern is the Red Flag warning we have in effect for today,” Davis said. Temperatures were expected to remain hot, but slightly lower than the near 100 degree heat of Saturday. The National Weather Service predicted a high of 92 degrees on Sunday in Lake County.

The Pawnee Fire, which has been scorching rural Lake County since June 23, consumed another 300 acres overnight, growing to 14,150 acres. Fire officials were concerned that it had the potential to grow further, and remained at 73 percent contained on Sunday morning.

Northerly winds blew smoke from the Pawnee Fire into Sonoma County, putting people who survived the wildfires of October in Santa Rosa and the Sonoma Valley on edge. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office tried to calm fears by sending out advisories that ther was no threat in Sonoma County.

But in Lake County, 200 residents of the Double Eagle subdivision are still under mandatory evacuation with the area south of Highway 20 to Morgan Valley Road under an Evacuation Advisory.

An Evacuation Advisory is in effect south of Highway 20 to Morgan Valley Road.

Mule Skinner Road and Highway 20; Walker Ridge Road and Highway 20, and Highway 20 between Highway 16 and Highway 53 in Lake County are still closed.

Cal Fire said 30 structures are threatened by the County Fire as it sears through farmland. Mandatory evacuations are in effect in the areas between County Road 63 to County Rd 76, West of Highway 16 and the Murphy Ranch areas of Yolo County.