As teams continue to contain the relatively small but devastating Boyles Fire in Lake CountySeveral neighbors told CBS News Bay Area they had experienced this before.
Firefighters believe they have stopped the spread of this fire, but there are still plenty of hot spots. The Boyles Fire broke out Sunday afternoon east of Highway 53Cal Fire began its attack shortly thereafter, both from the air and from the ground.
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Cal Fire said the fire has burned 81 acres — only about a tenth of a square mile — but in that area it is destroyed about 30 buildings, including many homes, and about 50 vehicles.
As of Monday afternoon, officials said the fire was 40% contained. More than 2,000 people were under evacuation orders, but some chose to stay behind to protect their homes.
“I got a call from my mom saying to come back home. I had the truck and we used it to get more stuff out,” said evacuee Jose Morales. “So when I got back, the fire started spreading because of the wind.”
The fire also damaged a key power line, leaving thousands of people in Lake County without power.
Robert Birge watched the fire approach from his back fence and within minutes embers were falling on his house and the house next door as the fire eventually formed a hopscotch path through his neighborhood.
“The fire had jumped 19th Ave. And that’s where it started hitting all those houses straight down,” Birge explained. “They were like tinderboxes, all those houses here, because they’re older. I think it hit a total of eight or nine houses here on 20th alone.”
Lake County Fire Chief Autumn Lancaster described the damage from the Boyle Fire.
“They’re saying 30 structures were lost and 40 to 60 vehicles were damaged,” Lancaster said. “The fire came out of this area here. It’s a lot of rough land behind commercial and residential areas. A lot of brush, a lot of manzanita.”
The source of the fire was downhill, where several fires have started recently. Many neighbors were talking about the homeless camps there. That’s where CBS News Bay Area firefighters saw prowling late Monday afternoon.
“It’s a big possibility. They’ve been here. It’s happened more than once in this exact location,” said Clearlake resident Matt Swinford.
“So those fires are still under investigation, just like this one. Our investigators are at the source now,” Lancaster said. “But as far as previous fires, until the investigation is complete, we can’t talk about it.”
Lake County residents are, of course, no strangers to wildfires.
The Valley Fire, the Jerusalem Fire and the Rocky Fire all occurred in 2015. The Clayton Fire raged in Lower Lake the following year. The Pawnee Fire and the River Fire and Ranch Fire that made up the Mendocino Complex — at the time the largest fire in state history — all occurred in 2018.
“I lost my home in the Clayton fire,” Birge said.
Since 2015, more than 60% of the county has burned, but like much of the state, they’ve had relatively quiet years recently.
“You know, we had snow and rain. We had the extreme weather, finally,” Birge said. “And it’s great. But everything grew back.”
And fire has returned, with a series of scares before homes were lost in the Boyles Fire. And there is still much of this year’s fire season to come.
“What can you do? This is life here. We’re all used to it,” Birge shrugged.
The cause of the latest fire is still under investigation.
