Boyles Fire in Lake County destroys at least 30 homes

>> GOOD EVENING. THANKS FOR JOINING US AT 6:00. >>> WE BEGIN WITH TEAM COVERAGE ON THE FIRE WATCH THIS EVENING AND JUST TO OUR NORTH IN LAKE COUNTY THE BOYLES FIRE NEAR CLEARLAKE HAS DESTROYED MORE THAN 30 BUILDINGS AND ALSO DOZENS OF CARS. LOOK AT THAT AREA RIGHT THERE. ANNE MAKOVEC HAS BEEN FOLLOWING ALL THE DEVELOPMENTS FOR US. >> FIREFIGHTERS DO THINK THEY HAVE STOPPED FORWARD PROGRESS ON THE FIRE, BUT THEY STILL HAVE PLENTY OF HOTSPOTS TO DEAL WITH. CALFIRE SAYS THAT FIRE HAS BURNED 81 ACRES, WHICH IS ONLY ABOUT A TENTH OF A SQUARE MILE, BUT IN THAT SPACE IT'S BURNED AROUND 30 BUILDINGS, INCLUDE MANAGE HOMES AND UP TO 50 VEHICLES. RIGHT NOW IT IS 40% CONTAINED. MORE THAN 2,000 PEOPLE ARE UNDER EVACUATION ORDERS, BUT SOME OF THEM CHOSE TO STAY BEHIND TO PROTECT THEIR HOMES. >> I GOT A PHONE CALL FROM MY MOTHER SAYING COME BACK HOME BECAUSE YOU HAVE THE TRUCK AND THAT'S WHAT WE COULD USE TO GET MORE THINGS OUT OF THERE. SO I CAME BACK HOME AND THE FIRE STARTED SPREADING BECAUSE OF THE WIND. >> THE BOYLES FIRE BROKE OUT YESTERDAY AFTERNOON EAST OF HIGHWAY 53. CALFIRE STARTED ITS ATTACK SOON AFTER BY AIR AND ON THE GROUND. THAT FIRE ALSO HIT A MAIN TRANSMISSION LINE KNOCKING OUT POWER TO THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AROUND THE CLEARLAKE COUNTY AREA. THE CAUSE IS STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION. >>> OUR TEAM COVERAGE CONTINUES. LET'S TAKE YOU THERE, WILSON WALKER LIVE FROM LAKE COUNTY WITH SOME PERSPECTIVE FROM THE NEIGHBORS WHO HAVE BEEN THROUGH THIS BEFORE. WILSON. >> Reporter: YEAH. MORE TIMES THAN YOU CAN WRAP YOUR HEAD AROUND, RIGHT? WE'RE ON THE EDGE OF THE NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE THIS FIRE CAME THROUGH. THIS DIRECTION IS WHERE THE FIRE CAME FROM. THERE'S A HILL THAT DROPS OFF OVER THAT DIRECTION. THAT IS THE DIRECTION FROM WHICH THE FLAMES CAME, HIT THE HOMES HERE, THEN CROSSED THE STREET OVER INTO THE NEIGHBORHOOD. YOU LOOK BACK DOWN THE STREET. THERE'S A MASSIVE PG&E PRESENCE TRYING TO GET POWER BACK ON FOR THE 2,300 OR SO FOLKS STILL EVACUATED FROM THE NEIGHBORHOOD RIGHT NOW. AS THEY WORK TO DO THAT, LET'S LISTEN TO SOME OF THE FOLKS WHO SAW THOSE FLAMES COME THROUGH YESTERDAY AFTERNOON. THEY SAY IT HAPPENED FAST AND IT WAS INTENSE. >> THE FIRE HAD JUMPED WELL OVER 19th AVENUE AND THAT'S WHERE IT STARTED HITTING ALL THESE HOUSES STRAIGHT DOWN THE LINE. >> Reporter: ROBERT BIRCH WATCHED THE FIRE APPROACH FROM HIS BACK FENCE AND WITHIN MINUTES THE EMBERS WERE LANDING ON HIS HOME AND THE HOUSE NEXT-DOOR AS THE FIRE EVENTUALLY CARVED A HOPSCOTCH PATH THROUGH HIS NEIGHBORHOOD. >> THEY WERE LIKE TINDERBOXES, ALL THESE HOUSES RIGHT OVER HERE, BECAUSE THEY'RE OLDER ONES. I THINK ALL IN ALL IT TOOK LIKE EIGHT OR NINE HOUSES ON 20th ALONE. >> THEY'RE SAYING 30 STRUCTURES LOST AND 40 TO 60 VEHICLES DAMAGED AS WELL, DAMAGE TO LOST AS WELL. >> Reporter: AUTUMN LANCASTER IS THE LAKE COUNTY FIRE MARSHAL. >> FIRE CAME FROM THIS AREA HERE. IT'S A LOT OF RAW LAND BEHIND COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL AREAS. THERE'S A LOT OF BRUSH, A LOT OF MANZANITA. >> Reporter: THE SOURCE OF THE FIRE WAS BACK DOWNHILL WHERE SEVERAL FIRES HAVE STARTED RECENTLY AND A DISCUSSION AMONG MANY NEIGHBORS HAS BEEN THE HOMELESS ENCAMPMENTS THERE. THAT IS ALSO WHERE WE SAW FIREFIGHTERS POKING AROUND THIS AFTERNOON. >> IT'S A HIGH POSSIBILITY, YOU KNOW. I MEAN THEY HAVE BEEN OUT HERE. IT'S HAPPENED MORE THAN ONCE IN THIS EXACT LOCATION. >> SO THOSE FIRES ARE STILL UNDER INVESTIGATION, AS IS THIS ONE. OUR INVESTIGATORS ARE THERE AT THE ORIGIN NOW, BUT IN TERMS OF PAST FIRES THIS YEAR, UNTIL THE INVESTIGATIONS ARE CONCLUDED WE CAN'T TALK ON THEM. >> Reporter: PEOPLE HERE IN LAKE COUNTY, OF COURSE, NO STRANGERS TO FIRE. >> I LOST MY HOUSE IN THE CLAYTON FIRE. >> Reporter: THE CLAYTON FIRE, THE 2015 VALLEY FIRE, THE JERUSALEM ROCKY AND PAWNEE FIRE AND RIVER AND RANCH FIRES THAT MADE UP THE MENDOCINO COMPLEX, AT THE TIME THE LARGEST FIRE IN STATE HISTORY. MORE THAN 60% OF THIS COUNTY HAS BURNED SINCE 2015, BUT LIKE MUCH OF THE STATE, THEY DID ENJOY SOME RELATIVELY QUIET YEARS LATELY. >> YOU KNOW HOW WE HAD LIKE SNOW AND RAIN. WE HAD THE EXTREMES OF THE WEATHER FINALLY AND IT'S GREAT, BUT EVERYTHING GREW BACK. >> Reporter: AND FIRE HAS RETURNED AS WELL WITH A SERIES OF SCARES AND NOW HOMES LOST WITH MUCH OF THE FIRE SEASON STILL AHEAD. >> BUT WHAT CAN YOU DO? THIS IS LIFE HERE. WE'RE ALL USED TO IT. >> Reporter: AS FOR THE OFFICIAL COUNT ON HOW MANY HOMES WERE LOST, THAT IS STILL TO BE DETERMINED. THE FOLKS YOU SAW IN THAT STORY WHO WERE OUT KIND OF PUTTING THESE POSTS UP AND TAKING NOTES, THAT WAS THE OFFICIAL COUNT GOING ON. SO WE EXPECT WE'LL GET A BETTER IDEA EXACTLY HOW MANY OF THE STRUCTURES WERE LOST WERE ACTUALLY HOMES SOMETIME. TOMORROW WE'RE WAITING FOR FOLKS TO GET BACK INTO THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, BUT YEAH, JUST BACK TO THE STUNNING AMOUNT OF FIRE IN THIS COUNTY, IT JUST BOGGLES THE MIND HOW MUCH THEY'VE SEEN HERE. AS YOU'VE HEARD, WE'RE REBURNING SOME OF THE SAME AREAS. I PERSONALLY CAN POINT A NUMBER OF DIRECTIONS ALMOST FROM WHERE WE CAN SEE IN THIS VERY IS POT AND SAY I COVERED A FIRE THERE AND I COVERED A