Rocky fire up to 60,000 acres

The Rocky fire slowed overnight with favorable weather conditions but continued to devour drought-dry wildlands, topping out at 60,000 acres, a fire spokesman said Monday.

Cooler temperatures and an increase in humidity kept the fire from growing the way it did over the weekend, when it tripled in size, spokesman Rick Frawley said.

It increased overnight by 6,000 acres and the level of containment grew from 5 percent to 12 percent, Frawley said.

Still, the Rocky is the largest of several active fires in the state and has burned more than 84 square miles – an area the size of the city of Seattle, Frawley said.

“We’re seeing fire behavior that’s unprecedented because of drought conditions over the last four years,” Frawley said. “There has been exponential growth.”

Residents of the Spring Valley community were evacuated Sunday night as a precautionary measure, said Steve Swindle, another fire spokesman.

“They had a pretty big blow up in that area when the winds shifted,” he said.

All told, more than 12,000 people have been forced from their homes since the fire began Wednesday northeast of Clear Lake, he said.

It has destroyed 24 homes and 26 outbuildings. More than 6,300 homes are threatened.

The fire is bordered by Highway 20 to the north and Highway 16 to the east and touches Yolo and Colusa counties.

Highway 20 from Highway 53 to Highway 16 remained closed.