Rocky Fire grows to 8,300 acres in Lake County

Crews were working Thursday to get a handle on a blazing wildfire that has forced hundreds from their homes in Lake and Napa counties.|

A Lake County wildfire that forced hundreds of residents to evacuate their homes nearly tripled in size overnight, with flames burning through more than 12 square miles of rugged rural territory southeast of Clearlake and evacuation orders expanding east to Napa County, Cal Fire officials said Thursday morning.

Firefighters had not yet gained any amount of containment around the fire, and crews battled throughout the night with only slight relief from the heat and no help from fog, which never arrived, Cal Fire spokeswoman Suzie Blankenship said. The area is rugged, with steep canyons and pockets of timber.

“The fire grew at a rapid rate of spread, and it’s dry out there, those fuels haven’t had their normal weather patterns in the winter for four-to-five years,” Blankenship said. “The fire just really grew.”

Named the Rocky fire for its proximity to the Rocky Creek just north of Morgan Valley Road, the fire started at about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday in heavy brush and timberland about eight miles east of Lower Lake.

The Rocky fire had torched at least 8,300 acres by Thursday morning in eastern Lake County, making it the largest active fire in Northern California and second only to a 31,500-acre in Southern California that was almost completely contained.

Mandatory orders to evacuate had expanded by Thursday morning, stretching from a neighborhood on the eastern edge of Lower Lake and eastward along rural roads crisscrossing a swath of steep terrain and rolling ranch lands to Knoxville Road in Napa County.

More than 30 people sought refuge at the Highland Senior Center in Clearlake overnight, and about 16 people were at the center Thursday morning, said Jill Ruzicka, spokeswoman for the Lake County Office of Emergency Services.

Officials opened another shelter for evacuees at Middletown High School at about 2:30 a.m. Thursday.

“It is very, very close to people’s homes,” Ruzicka said of the fire.

At the Clearlake evacuation center, Bill Hilbrandie and his sister Dini Marotto tried calling the landlines of their homes off Rocky Creek Road near the fire’s origin. On Wednesday they fled their two homes on the property as flames crested a nearby ridge. They left with their dogs and nothing else.

When their phones rang Thursday morning, they were briefly elated that it could mean their homes were still standing, although those hopes were quickly dashed after learning that such a sign does not necessarily indicate the phone connections and structures were still there.

“At least we had two minutes of happiness,” Marotto said. “False alarm.”

The fire has destroyed several structures which state officials described as outbuildings. Blankenship said that she had no additional information Thursday morning about damage to residences.

Outside the senior center in Clearlake, Donna Magee of Los Angeles said that at least one of her family’s two mobile homes on a property off Morgan Valley Road had been destroyed. The structure was Magee’s vacation residence and she did not know the status of her mother’s full-time residence on the land.

“We’ll come up and build something else; I’m OK,” Magee said.

State Sen. Mike McGuire, in town for a breakfast meeting with local judges, made a brief visit to the shelter to speak with evacuees.

“The concern is this has been such a fast-moving fire,” McGuire, D-Healdsburg, said on his way out of the evacuation center.

Cal Fire estimated at least 500 residents were effected by the evacuation orders late Wednesday, and an updated number wasn’t yet available Thursday.

Firefighters were facing another scorching, dry day, with temperatures forecast to hit 103 degrees in Lower Lake, according to the National Weather Service.

Some relief with slightly cooler temperatures and increased humidity were expected to start Friday and continue through Monday, meteorologist Eric Kurth said.

A parking lot at the state Department of Social Services office in Lower Lake, at 15975 Anderson Ranch Parkway, was being used as a shelter for animals.

Mandatory evacuations were in place for the following roads:

- Morgan Valley Road from Bonham Road and east five miles.

- Lower Lake area: Spruce Grove Road, Noble Ranch, Jerusalem Grade and Cantwell Ranch

Road closures include:

- Morgan Valley Road

- Rocky Creek Road

- Dam Road

- Mustang Court

- Quarterhorse Lane

- Sleepy Hollow

Check back for regular updates on this developing story.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.

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