Wildfire’s wrath hits quiet little Lower Lake, California this time

 

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Wildfire’s wrath hits quiet little Lower Lake this time

San Francisco Chronicle21 hours ago

The town of Lower Lake, perched just south of the shore of massive Clear Lake, had been a sanctuary from fire during several devastating blazes that tormented Lake County over the past... 

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Wildfire’s wrath hits quiet little Lower Lake this time

By Kurtis Alexander and Evan Sernoffsky

Updated 9:30 pm, Sunday, August 14, 2016

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The town of Lower Lake, perched just south of the shore of massive Clear Lake, had been a sanctuary from fire during several devastating blazes that tormented Lake County over the past year.
Homeowners to the east raced to the safety of the tiny downtown when the 69,000-acre Rocky Fire chased them out last August. Residents to the west came for coffee and groceries in September when the 76,000-acre Valley Fire burned their mountain communities, killing four and wiping out more than 1,300 homes.
But Sunday, much of Lower Lake succumbed to flames. A small brushfire that started a day earlier just south of the community jumped a containment line and roared through several neighborhoods into the town’s historic center.

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Photo: Josh Edelson, Associated Press

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A home burns near the town of Lower Lake, Calif. on Sunday, August 14, 2016. Flames continue to burn out of control in the area. Cal Fire spokeswoman Suzie Blankenship said the fire was creating its own weather ... more

Firefighters battled the blaze amid the smoke-filled streets, but a handful of businesses around the two-block downtown strip were burned, including the Tuscan Village winery and the Habitat for Humanity office.
“Oh my God,” said Victor Quintanilla, 50, who was forced to flee his home near the center of town, where he stood in shorts, sneakers and a tank top with a U.S. flag. “Everything is burning. It’s no good.”

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Lower Lake, which has roughly 1,300 residents, serves as the gateway to Clear Lake, a popular destination for boating, fishing and waterskiing.
Unlike other communities around the lake, Lower Lake has remained less developed, free of the big-box stores and casinos that have emerged elsewhere in the county.
“It hasn’t rushed ahead like the other towns,” said Lake County historian Ruby Glebe. “It’s sort of laid back. It is much like an old town.”
Glebe attributes Lower Lake’s tranquillity to a heated political battle in the late 1800s, when the community lost its bid for the county courthouse and surrendered its title as the county seat. As it was then, it remains a sleepy pass-through for people headed to the lake.
As of late Sunday, fire crews had succeeded in saving many of the small quirky shops on Main Street: Maynard’s Sports Bar, Lower Lake Coffee and a feed shop. The post office also appeared OK.
But flames from what’s being called the Clayton Fire were singeing the sports fields at Lower Lake High School, and firefighters were mounting an intense effort to save the campus.

Kurtis Alexander and Evan Sernoffksy are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander, @EvanSernoffsky