Boyles Fire burns dozens of buildings in Clearlake; thousands evacuated
Firefighters were making some progress Monday morning as they battled the Boyles Fire in Lake County that burned upwards of 30 structures in the town of Clearlake.
An update provided by Cal Fire Monday said that the wildfire was 30% contained as of shortly after 10 a.m. The Boyle Fire was remapped and appears to have consumed just over 76 acres, the update said.
On Monday afternoon, the Lake County Fire Protection District said forward progress of the fire has been stopped and containment raised to 40%.
Cal Fire also provided another update Monday afternoon, saying that improved mapping from aircraft sensors put the fire at 81 acres at around 2:45 p.m.
Cal Fire on Sunday said there were multiple spot fires in the area and around 30 structures had been burned in the incident. Additionally, the agency said "40-50 vehicles were destroyed."
The Boyles Fire broke out around 2 p.m. near Dam Road and Boyles Avenue east of Highway 53 and evacuation orders were issued for people living near those roads.
Fire officials on Sunday reported that about 4,000 people were displaced in the evacuation zones. That number was later updated to 2,313 evacuated. A map of the areas currently under evacuation orders and warnings is available online.
The fire burned dangerously close to homes, a community college and a shopping center. Cal Fire tackled the flames by air and on the ground.
Firefighters said weather conditions made it tough to help evacuees. An evacuation center was set up at Twin Pines Casino in Middletown.
The blaze also hit a main transmission line which knocked out power to thousands of area customers. Schools and the local hospital were also without electricity and officials said they were using backup generators.
Rep. Mike Thompson, who represents Napa and Lake counties in the U.S. Congress, tweeted Sunday night that "FEMA has approved the State's request for a Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) to help cover costs to mitigate, manage, and control firefighting efforts for #BoylesFire."
Luis Guiterrez was in his home Sunday morning when he got an alert on his phone about the fire.
"You don't really think much of it until we stepped outside and you saw how much smoke there was in the air. How dark it was and the orange flames," Guiterrez said. "If an ember lands right in the right spot, you can lose everything in a matter of minutes."
With the winds, Guiterrez knew it was time to go. "I gathered my most important documents, my family and we took off."
When he came back Sunday evening, he found the best case scenario, his home was OK.
"Just a little bit of fire retardent, which I don't mind at all," Guiterrez said, recounting the damage he could find. "My house is still standing and four houses, five houses down the street are burnt down to ashes."
One of those impacted houses belongs to Aureglio Jauregui. "My house is done, my house is gone," Jauregui said. "No more house."
Firefighters were still working on his lot late Sunday night, trying to make sure all of the fire was out. All that's left behind is rubble.
The good news: Jauregui and his family are safe.
He lived in the home for 25 years. He says it felt like a part of his family and he is struggling with the loss.
Guiterrez is feeling relieved and grateful that he will be spending the night at home.
"I've got my entire family still with me and we're back at the place that we call home. So ecstatic," Guiterrez said.
He feels safe knowing that local agencies, with the assistance of Cal Fire, were working to get the fire under control.
"Everyone was working really hard and I could see it," Guiterrez said.
Guiterrez says he loves this community and he wouldn't consider leaving but he is going to look more closely at his insurance.
He believes he got lucky this time but wants to be prepared if something like this ever happens again.
