Hundreds of Firefighters Battle Lucas Fire as It Reaches 4,008 Acres

More than 1,200 personnel continued battling the Lucas Fire Saturday night assisted by night-flying helicopters. The blaze, which is burning near Bachelor Valley in Lake County, started Thursday. By late Saturday afternoon, CAL FIRE put its size at over 4,000 acres and 15% contained.

The agency said the fire remained within established control objectives and that additional resources were staged to respond if conditions worsened. Currently there are 1,291 personnel assigned to the fire, with 61 engines, 35 water tenders, 32 dozers, 17 helicopters and 51 hand crews. Air tankers from around the state are flying fire suppression missions as conditions allow.

In Mendocino County, the fire prompted an evacuation order for the first time, covering the eastern portion of the Potter Valley-area zone, MEN-2POT08-B; the rest of that zone, MEN-2POT08-A, and the Ukiah Valley zone, MEN-2UKV28, stayed under evacuation warnings. In Lake County, where most of the fire is burning, evacuation orders remained in place for eight zones, with warnings for 10.

The U.S. Forest Service ordered an emergency closure of part of the Upper Lake Ranger District on the Mendocino National Forest, where the fire is burning.

CAL FIRE's Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit and the Lake County Sheriff's Office scheduled a community meeting on the Lucas Fire for 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 13, to brief residents on fire activity, suppression efforts, evacuations and available resources.

Temporary closure points remained along Highway 20 at Bachelor Valley Road, Witter Springs Road and Saratoga Springs Road. The Lake County Fairgrounds in Lakeport (Baldwin Pavilion, 401 Martin St.) continued to serve as a temporary evacuation point and animal shelter. The cause remains under investigation, and no injuries or destroyed structures had been reported as of Saturday evening.

A red flag warning for strong winds and elevated fire-weather conditions remained in effect through Monday afternoon.