A little after 3 p.m. a fire was reported off Hwy 1 in the area of Bill Owens Road near Point Arena. According to a Nixle alert by the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Department Hwy 1 is shut down. They are asking travelers to avoid the area. According to the CHP Traffic Incident Information Page, cones are set up from Schooner Gulch to Bill Owens Road.
As of 4:30 p.m., the fire is 12 acres and growing.
Multiple aircraft are either on the fire or headed to it. Air Attack 110 is circling the fire and Tankers 91 and 100 are assigned to the fire as are Copter 104 and 910.
In what may be an unrelated incident, about a half hour before the fire started, about 26 PG&E customers in the area lost power.
A strike team is forming in Humboldt County is forming to assist.
As of 4:30 p.m., the fire is 12 acres and growing.
UPDATE 5:04 p.m.: Mandatory evacuations have been issue MCSO. The Tweet below describes those evacuations:
UPDATE 6:08 p.m.: CALFIRE Mendocino Unit Chie Luke Kendall told us the Owens Fire has burned between 20-30 acres, but emphasized that information is preliminary.
While speaking with Chief Kendall, he learned that firefighters have successfully made a line around the fire, though spots are continuing to develop.
The fire has been primarily in timber and has been fed by the high winds buffeting the coast. Firefighters will be on scene throughout the night and into tomorrow mopping up the fire, Chief Kendall told us.
UPDATE 6:28 p.m.: These photographs of the Owens Fire were sent to us by coastal resident David Bradbrook. Bradbrook told us he took these photographs of the Owens Fire from the lookout below the Schooner Gulch.
UPDATE 7:18 p.m.: CALFIRE Mendocino provided information on the fire in a recent tweet:
UPDATE 8:01 p.m.: The following message was published on the Mendocino County Sheriff’s Facebook page:
Forward progress stopped. Fire suppression operations and mop up continue. The evacuation order will remain in effect overnight.
If you live within the evacuation area and need shelter assistance, then please call 707-510-1556.
The following photograph of the Owens Fire was taken at 3:54 p.m. today by Melinda Scott:
UPDATE 10:29 p.m.: An incident update provided by CALFIRE indicates the Owens Fire was 36 acres in size and stands at 5% containment. At this point, all evacuations have lifted but fire resources at the scene are battling the fire and will remain throughout the night.
