County fire in Yolo-Napa counties destroys nine structures

The fire burning in Yolo and Napa counties grew to 88,375 acres overnight while containment was boosted to 37 percent, Cal Fire said.|

The County fire burning in Napa and Yolo counties grew to 88,375 acres overnight while containment was boosted to 37 percent, Cal Fire said Friday morning.

The fire burning east of Lake Berryessa grew 375 acres overnight, while containment increased four percent. The growth was in steep and rugged terrain northeast of the town of Guinda along Highway 16, Cal Fire spokesman Will Powers said.

“It’s burning in the rural areas and there aren’t a lot of structures in that area,” Powers said. “It’s active in the northeast portion (today.)”

Nine structures have been destroyed. Flames were threatening 110 structures Friday morning, far less than the 880 buildings threatened Thursday morning, Cal Fire said. It was not immediately clear in which areas of the fire the nine structures burned or what types of buildings they were, spokesman Anthony Brown said.

Full containment of the week-old fire is now expected Thursday, Cal Fire said. That date was pushed back two days from the previously estimated containment on Tuesday because of challenges with the added acreage and steep terrain, Brown said.

Containment is mostly on the south end of the fire, along Highway 128 near the Monticello Dam and Winters, Brown said.

Overnight, ground crews and bulldozers worked to put new containment lines in place, Brown said. Teams have started to survey damage from the fire, which has been burning since Saturday.

Weather conditions Friday were expected to be favorable, Brown said, but the weekend’s forecast for hotter and dryer weather was a concern.

“We do know it’s going to heat up a little bit this weekend, so we’ll try to get out there and use the weather to our advantage today,” he said.

More than 3,800 firefighters are assigned to the blaze, with 307 engines, 53 water tenders, 19 helicopters, 86 hand crews and 72 bulldozers involved.

The firefighting force was down by about 200 from Thursday night, with some crews being sent to the Klamathon fire in Siskiyou County, Brown said. The Klamathon fire, which ignited Thursday, is now at 8,000 acres with 5 percent containment, Cal Fire said.

No injuries have been reported.

Meanwhile, in Lake County, the Pawnee fire is expected to be fully contained Tuesday, Cal Fire said. The blaze northeast of Clearlake Oaks has consumed 15,000 acres and was 92 percent contained Thursday night, when the latest update was released.

Thursday night more than 800 personnel were still assigned to the fire that ignited June 23, including 22 engines, 13 water tenders, one helicopter and 13 hand crews, Cal Fire said. The fire has destroyed 22 structures and damaged six. One firefighter was injured.

You can reach Staff Writer Hannah Beausang at 707-521-5214 or hannah.beausang@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @hannahbeausang.

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