Cal Fire Knocks Down Dangerous Sites Fire

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A dangerous, rapidly-moving fire near the Colusa County/Lake County line has been halted by Cal Fire air and ground crews.

The Sites Fire exploded into view just after 4PM Sunday afternoon near Sites Lodgoa Road. That location is approximately 25 miles northeast of the town of Clearlake and west of Willows. In its first hours, the blaze sent up a dramatic plume of smoke as it spread rapidly.

The blaze quickly grew to about 500 acres by 7PM, but a total of 8 air tankers and 24 fire engines were on the scene within the first hours, effectively halting the forward progress by nightfall. By Monday morning, the blaze was reported to be 40 percent contained and holding at 540 acres. Evacuations along the Sites Lodgoa Road ordered Sunday night were still in effect, as crews worked Monday to strengthen and extend containment lines. That work was expected to continue throughout the day.

And remote cameras early Monday afternoon showed little evidence of active fire spread.

Crews will continue to put out hot spots through Monday and potentially into Tuesday as a forecast increase in winds beginning on Tuesday afternoon has the potential to increase the rate of fire spread throughout the northern Sacramento Valley.