As of Monday afternoon, fire department officials said the wildfire spanned 2,000 acres and was 5 percent contained, according the article.
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Lower Lake resident Michelle Waller reacts to the arrest announcement of arson suspect Damin Anthony Pashilk during a community meeting by the Clayton Fire at Lower Lake in California, US August 15, 2016.
The good news came after authorities announced the arrest of a 40-year-old Lake County man accused of deliberately setting the blaze that has destroyed more than 175 homes and businesses, and leveled parts of historic Lower Lake.
The fire destroyed 175 homes, Main Street businesses and other structures in the working-class town of Lower Lake.
The fast-moving Clayton Fire has now destroyed almost 200 structures in and around the Lake County town of Lower Lake (pop. 1,294).
James McCauley looks over the burned-out remains of his residence in the town of Lower Lake, Calif. Comstock said when his wife sees tall grass, she wonders aloud when the property owner will cut it.
“Those people have been through a lot”, he said.
More than 1,600 firefighters were battling the flames, Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said, adding that receding winds on Sunday evening had allowed crews to make progress cutting containment lines around the flames and putting out hot spots.
“The residents of Lake County have experienced senseless loss and endured significant hardship over the past year”, said Chief Ken Pimlott, Cal Fire director in a statement. More than 1,400 of the 36,000 housing units in all Lake County were destroyed by three major blazes that took place last summer at the end of July through September.
More than 34,000 homes and about 82,000 people were under evacuation warnings as firefighters concentrated their efforts on saving homes in the mountain communities of Lytle Creek, Wrightwood and Phelan. State fire investigators said that fire was sparked by a malfunctioning gas water heater.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant didn’t have the breakdown of the number of homes, businesses and other buildings destroyed by the fire, which broke out Saturday and spans almost 5 square miles. “Is someone going to tell us the facts or just go on TV and say you arrested someone and put it to bed?”
“And that was the scene, domino effect for several hours last night”. Pashilk is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.
The fire briefly stopped a freight train on nearby tracks.
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In central California, a wildfire near Lake Nacimiento, about 180 miles northwest of Los Angeles, grew to more than 8 square miles.
