Petaluma firefighters pitch in across the state

When Lake County’s Clayton fire broke out earlier this month, Sonoma County firefighting agencies were already pitching in to help battle the large Soberanes fire spreading over the rugged terrain of the Central Coast’s Big Sur.

But stretched thin as they were covering other stations or fighting the fire themselves, agencies still wasted little time cobbling together staff and apparatus in a rush to the community of Lower Lake, recalled Jeff Holden, battalion chief with the Petaluma Fire Department.

With memories still fresh from incidents like the massive Valley Fire that had ripped through the area roughly one year ago, responders didn’t wait until the official call to action came in, he said.

“We were listening to what was going on, so we had people from our county just get in their rig and head over there to start helping out,” said Holden, who himself served on a county strike team battling the Soberanes fire earlier this month. “Last time, during the Valley fire, there was that hesitation – people were waiting for that call to come in. Sometimes, that call is too late.”

Roughly one year after a series of devastating wildfires in Lake County and elsewhere, firefighting agencies in southern Sonoma County are again taking part in an annual ritual where local agencies join forces in response to massive fires around the state.

Among the latest to break out, and certainly the closest to home, was the Clayton fire, a nearly 4,000-acre blaze centered east of the town of Lower Lake that was almost 100 percent contained as of Tuesday, according to the state rural firefighting agency CalFire. The fire destroyed 299 structures as of that day, including 189 homes and a portion of the community’s downtown area.

While near-normal rainfall during the latest rainy season was welcome in light of California’s multi-year drought, Holden said, larger trees that died after years of arid conditions now dot the remote landscapes of Lake County and elsewhere. Those larger fuels now exist as part of vegetation that already presents potentially dangerous wildfire conditions.

“Fuels in areas like Lake County at this time of year, whether you had a rainy year or a dry year, are still going to be dry,” he said.

Petaluma sent an engine and personnel to help battle the Clayton fire on Aug. 14, and sent its neon-green California Office of Emergency Services engine to help with the Soberanes fire late last month.

Others responding to the recent fires included the Wilmar Volunteer Fire Department, at the Clayton fire, and the Lakeville Volunteer Fire Department, which filled in for CalFire at multiple stations.

Not all of those responding to the fire were there to battle the flames. Petaluma Animal Services spent ten days at a Red Cross evacuee shelter at Twin Pine Casino & Hotel, using its air-conditioned remote adoption center as a temporary shelter for animals whose owners were accessing services at the site, said Jeff Charter, executive director. The nonprofit organization provided a similar service during last year’s Valley fire.

“What happens a lot of the time is that people who are evacuated bring their animal along, yet they can’t bring their animal in with them as they get services,” he said. “A lot of time what happens is that folks don’t access those services.”

Charter said the service proved extremely popular.

“It was a huge response. We had tortoises, snakes, dogs, cats, chickens - you name it,” he said.

While still tallying up the total expense, Charter said it likely cost between $12,000 and $15,000 to operate the remote shelter during the incident. Yet around $10,000 in donations to support the service has already rolled in.

“If we had to eat the whole cost, we couldn’t do it,” he said. Yet “our supporters here - they want us to help out.”

After more than 2,100 fire personnel were battling the Clayton fire last week, the numbers are now tapering down. After a mandatory evacuation, Lower Lake residents were allowed to return to their properties on Aug. 19.

The Soberanes fire was at 87,316 acres on Tuesday and 60 percent contained, according to CalFire. Nearly 2,000 fire personnel were still battling the fire at that time, when CalFire reported 57 homes had been destroyed.

CalFire was managing nine wildfires across the state as of Tuesday, two of which were considered 100 percent contained.

Despite the wildfires currently burning around the state, Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District Battalion Chief Mike Weihman said it was a relatively calm period compared to the same time in 2015. The Valley fire alone burned around 76,000 acres in Lake County from mid-September to mid-October, destroying 1,281 homes, 27 apartment buildings and 66 commercial properties.

Having sent an engine to the Soberanes fire for two weeks, Weihman said his department has one engine listed as “available to go, should something else come up.”

“Compared to last year at this time, there’s quite a lot less going on. But come September, that can be the nastiest time for wildfires. So we’re all crossing our fingers,” he said.

(Contact Eric Gneckow at eric.gneckow@arguscourier.com. On Twitter @Eric_Reports.)