California wildfire forces 1000 evacuations and destroys homes

The blaze, named the Clayton Fire, was only miles from where the 76,000-acre Valley Fire killed four people and burned more than 1,300 homes in September. These include Clayton Creek, Morgan Valley Road to Sam Road, Spruce Grove Road and Highway 29.

Flames raced through dry brush and forced more than 1,000 people to flee their homes in a Northern California lake community that was evacuated in a devastating wildfire past year.

“The fuels are extremely dry”, Blankenship said.

Dozens of residents south of the town were given evacuation orders shortly after the blaze began about 5 p.m. Saturday in oak-studded hills south of Clear Lake, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Lower Lake was evacuated almost a year ago by a nearby wildfire that ravaged most of rural Lake County and parts of Napa County about 90 miles north of San Francisco.

The Chimney Fire, burning near Nacimiento Lake, has scorched 1,450 acres as of 8:15 a.m. this morning – after a little more than 16 hours since it broke near the intersection of Chimney Rock Road and Nacimiento Lake Drive.

The fire has burned at least 1 square mile, with full containment expected Sunday, Cal Fire Chief Tom McEwen told KSBY-TV.

Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant says fire crews are working in hot temperatures and no cloud clover to fight the blaze in Lake County.

Authorities say about 1,200 people in a Northern California lake community have been forced to flee flames racing through dry vegetation.

The fire has chewed through more than 2 square miles south of the town of Lower Lake and is largely burning out of control.

As of press time, more than 215 fire personnel from the Lake County Fire and Cal Fire units, as well as from fire districts around the county, are joining forces to battle the wildfire which has been feared to continue spreading due to the evening winds.

This summer, Lake County, like many parts of California, has seen several small wildfires as the state wrestles with a fifth year of drought and a dangerously parched landscape. People have been forced to evacuate, but it wasn’t immediately known how many homes were affected.