[UPDATE 6:15 p.m.] “Golf Fire” Caused Evacuations in Lake County Late this Afternoon
Plane dropping retardant [Image from Cal Fire in 2014]
At 4:21 p.m., ABC7 posted a report showing a growing fire that started near Soda Bay Road intersection with Golf Course Road near Kelseyville, CA in Lake County. ABC7 says 600 people were asked to evacuate. Structures were seriously threatened as the fire burned in steep wooded terrain that last burnt in the 1990’s.
According to scanner traffic, fire personnel from several departments hit the fire hard. Redheaded Blackbelt’s Bobby Kroeker monitored the scanner and reports six small helicopters, and one large helicopter and several tankers were used. By about 5 p.m the tankers were ordered to “load and hold” which Kroeker says likely means they have the fire mainly under control at this time.
Firefighters are still in the area with 10 acres burnt, but at 5:24 p.m. the wind is working to push the fire downslope according to scanner traffic.
The CalFire “GolfFire” page shows that the fire is still 0% contained.
UPDATE 6:15 p.m.: According to scanner traffic, “the fire is looking pretty good right now. The only [problem] might be on the right shoulder where the wind [might cause some expansion.]
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Thanks, Kym — I live in Lake County and I can’t get any news from local sources more recent than 2 hours ago. (Obviously, I don’t have a scanner.) I live on the other side of the lake (evacuated last year for Ranch Fire) — and I drove down to Glenhaven, opposite the fire area around 4 pm. The scariest part was a second fire (probably a “spot” fire) burning closer to the lake, quite a way from the main fire area. A good friend lives on Westlake Road on the Buckingham Peninsula, and she is standing by to evacuate. Access is very restricted; people over there could be cut off entirely. But that was true on my side of the lake last year, too. Anyway I’m very glad things are looking better. Thank you again and again for your great coverage, RHBB!!
yes our local news sources are horrible here in lake county!
At about 1:00 I noticed the sunlight became amber through the skylight, and then the first helicopter circled over our house. I went out on the deck and saw a plume of smoke blowing over us! “Shit, this isn’t good” I exhaled, and went out the front door to see the lady across the street fussing on her porch and staring at the tongues of flame which were growing in a line, up the mountain… There were already two choppers and a scooper-plane dumping water and retardant, but once I got down to the golf course, it was pretty clear that the fire was not small, and that it was close. “We are out of here, grab the critters!” he shouted… We went down to Clearlake, and watched the aircraft bombing the mountain from the safety of the Olympic Peninsula, which is directly opposite the Buckingham clubhouse… Pretty cool, but by then there was another fire out in front of the main fire! Scary, and the wind was running around 20-25 mph this morning… Time to get out of Lake County!
So, if the fire happens near you, don’t take it personally – it’s just your turn! Leave the fire fighting to the experts who have the equipment, and exit by the safest route, staying carefully out of the way of the responding fire-folks and those fleeing.
For ourselves, we went eventually to Williams, to stay at Granzella’s, which has a good restaurant, to have an adventure in a Hotel, with practically no personal items from home, and with two dogs and a cat! They are nice here, and the deli/restaurant/store has excellent Gelato, and is, actually, Disneyland for treats! It was gratifying to see another ten CalFire rigs running up Highway 20!
Now is when we will discover how nice it is to not take risks when the fire looks big and is too close by, and how easy it is to get by with practically nothing! Might not have clean underpants, but we didn’t get burned up!
Thanks to Kym Kemp and her band of scanner-monitors, for providing the most timely, accurate, and most complete fire information service in Lake County and Northern CA. This is why I watch your site!
We did get finally a Nixle from the Lake County Sherrif, but we were already in the car driving South on Soda Bay.
Riviera West is evacuated, Riviera Heights is under “advise evac”, and Buckingham has not been officially evacuated, but all us old folks pretty much bailed from our Senior Community!
Be good, be safe, be careful with the cigarettes and gunfire, have a good weekend, and smile and wave at the next fire-person you see! Thanks again RHBB!
Kelley and Bobby handled without me. They did great.
Thanks for your account, glad you are safe!
Yes. And may you get to go home soon to find no damage.
i was reading on lake county news FB page about the fire long before it was anywhere else besides scanner https://www.facebook.com/lakeconews/ i hate FB but this page you dont need to sign in to view . in the comments below the fire post , there was a live video from a boat .
and i agree , kym does a better than great job for our newsless county
thanks kym
Safety is our first priority at Redheaded Blackbelt. I’m glad our effort helped you feel some comfort! All of Humboldt County, but Southern Humboldt especially, has empathy for the residents of Lake County and the several years you have endured these devastating fires. Here in Southern Humboldt, it could be us at any point in time.
The Golf Fire is at 7:15p.m. being reported as 30% contained with 19 acres burned by the way.
Even though I don’t live in Lake Co, I appreciate the work that allows their people to get information.
Hey Kelly, thanks for the info.
20 acres… sounds like a large burn pile.
We’ve had a very mellow summer. Unless things get real hot soon all the paranoia about a big fire season seems to be overblown. I know, we still have all of September and October…
Edit: don’t get me wrong, everyone who lives the wildland urban interface should be prepped for the worse possible scenario.
Camp Fire ate Paradise in NOVEMBER. It ain’t over til we’ve had at least five (5) inches of rain fall over a couple of days.
I remember one year when that happened in December. Another when it was mid-September.
Blackberries were ripe in July, Stellar Jays are down in the river valley instead of up in the hills, Marine Influence seems to be moving in and the mornings smell like Autumn, not Summer. Neighborhood Mourning Doves have started to migrate out in small flocks and if that First Storm will Move In and Stay here or if it will move on and THEN we’ll see the heat.
The next few months are always hard to read, weather wise. This is a good week to be dealing with firewood.
Agreed. We’re not in the clear by any means, but we are not Paradise… the North Coast feels like the “Pacific Northwest” this summer more than “California “.
That’s a good thing!
Your comment on our paranoia doesn’t do anything for our PTSD.
I’ve been through it. Time cures ptsd, prep cures paranoia.
“Unless things get real hot soon all the paranoia about a big fire season seems to be overblown. I know, we still have all of September and October…”
“We still have” until the rains come, it doesn’t matter what month. Last year there wasn’t substantial rain to begin burning in SoHum until late November or or early December, don’t recall exactly.
Instant news. Best in Northern California.
IT DOES SEEM AMAZING THAT 20 OR 30 ACRES COULD ATTRACT THAT MUCH ATTENTION’ BUT IT SITS AT THE BASE OF A HUGE DRY FOREST THAT CLIMBS A VOLCANO. ON THE OTHER 2 SIDE(S) ARE HOMES. A LOT OF THEM. MY MOM’S HOME IS 3000 FEET AWAY FROM THE FIRE START ALONG SODA BAY.
I HAVE WATCHED HER BE EVACUATED 3 TIMES NOW’ BUT BEFORE IT WAS ONLY BECAUSE OF POTENTIALLY LOSING ROAD ACCESS.
YIKES.
IF IT LOOKS LIKE IT MIGHT BE THREATENING’ I WONDER IF SOMEONE CAN GO GET SOME THINGS OUT FOR US.
CALIF HAS ABOUT 3 YEARS LEFT……………………..FIRE STORMS AND ALOT OF SEA WATER…………………..WAKE UP FOLKS JUDGEMENT IS IN THE LAND. YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ANYTHING YET. TIME TO GET ON OUR KNEES AND REPENT FOR ALL THE SIN THAT IN THE CAMP. LOTS OF IT. WE ALL HAVE A PART…………..KEEP TRYING TO CHANGE THE BIBLE IN CALIF AND IT MIGHT STOP……………….CALIF WANTS TO BAN THE BIBLE……..WATCH OUT BOHEMIAN GROVE…………………COUNT DOWN
Could you two please stop yelling…
Over the last ten years the Clear Lake Area has had so many big fires, that every fire can grow to be a big fire.
2:00 p.m. — Residents in the Riviera West and Riviera Heights subdivisions were allowed to return to their homes, although apparently the fire is not yet fully contained. Acres burned not reached triple digits at this time, as far as I can tell. Check lakeconews.com, a local service that is pretty good about reporting local news, although not nearly as good or as comprehensive or wide-ranging as RHBB!
Many thanks to Kym & Kelly and everyone else helping out on this; what a great service to the entire region.