A vegetation fire ignited in the hills northwest of Lakeport this afternoon. Dubbed the “Scotts Fire”, the most recent reports from the scene indicate the fire is 6 acres and growing at a moderate rate driven by the terrain with no reported containment.
The Incident Commander warned the fire seemed to be burning towards the direction of Blue Lakes, a popular tourist destination along State Route 20.
A squadron of air assets have been assigned to the incident including five air tankers and three helicopters. 20 additional engines have also been requested to join in firefighting efforts from Sonoma County’s Point Fire.
The fire was initially reported around 2:18 p.m. on the 6300 block of Scotts Valley Road with early reports describing the fire burning grassy oak woodland, and involving one barn.
UPDATE 3:45 p.m.: The Incident Commander reported the Scotts Fire is now at 15 acres in size growing at a slow to moderate rate of spread. He relayed that ground and dozer crews are “making good progress”.
UPDATE 4:00 p.m.: The fire has jumped to 45-50 acres in size, according to estimates from air attack. Reports from the scene are still describing the fire as burning at a slow rate of spread and crews making good progress.
UPDATE 4:11 p.m.: Scanner traffic from the Scotts Fire indicates a firefighter working the incident is having difficulty breathing and medical personnel are responding with lights and sirens to the scene.
Coral Leigh sent us these images of a helicopter dumping water on the Scotts Fire attempting to combat the spread:
UPDATE 7:05 p.m.: The fire has burned 50 acres and is now 15% contained, according to Cal Fire. Officials have requested 10 engines, 4 crews, and 4 water tenders for tomorrow. All tankers have been released, while one of three helicopters has also been released. Two helicopters remain engaged in firefighting operations.
Please remember that this story is unfolding. Information is being reported as we gather it. However, some of the information coming from witnesses and initial official reports could be wrong. We will do our best to get the facts but, in the case that something is inaccurate, we will update with correct information as soon as we can.
Jesus Christ!…so many fires already. It’s going to be a brutal summer & fall.
We had a reasonably cool spring this season BUT we also had a very unusual amount of strong winds during the entire month of may which sucked the grasses and vegitation bone dry.
I was mowing a clients lawns on the oppisite side of the lake when the Hammond fire started over at Nice and had a birdseye view from start to finish.
It didn’t look to serious just the usual white smoke attributed to a grassfire with very little rate of spreading.
I’m speculating that it was being handled by the local fire departments and volunteers because it burned for around thirty minutes with no visible air support.
About the time that the first black plumes of smoke appeared indicating a structure was burning a Helicopter I’m assuming CDF sent from Scotts Valley arrived on the scene and began drawing water from the lake and doing drops.