LOWER LAKE — As of Monday night, the Clayton Fire was burning east into a remote area near the Rocky Fire burn scar.
The fire has charred 4,000 acres in Lake County, and destroyed more than 175 structures including many homes in Lower Lake.
Tuesday morning, the fire remained at 4,000 acres but containment jumped from 5 to 20 percent overnight. No human injuries or fatalities have been reported, but some animals lost their lives in the fire.
The flames made an aggressive run Sunday afternoon into downtown Lower Lake.
“It just takes a little bit of wind, and a little bit of a wind shift, and it’s off to the races,” explained Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant. “And this was a very fast-moving fire. In fact it burned into Lower Lake so quickly that it was all our firefighters could do was just to get resident out of harm‘s way as the fire continued to race here as embers rained down on the homes. It was a difficult firefight for us. And unfortunately a very destructive one as well.”
Monday night, the cause of the fire was revealed by investigators to be arson. 40-year-old Damin Anthony Pashilk was arrested and charged with 17 counts of arson
