By ELIZABETH LARSON
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — While firefighters have fully contained the Cache fire, fire district and city officials said Sunday that work in the fire’s footprint is still underway to make conditions safer for residents ahead of the lifting of the final evacuation order.
The fire, which began Wednesday afternoon in the area of Sixth Street and Cache Avenue in Clearlake, has burned 83 acres.
Lake County Fire Protection District Board President Jacqueline Snyder said Sunday afternoon that the fire was fully contained.
Snyder said firefighters will still be patrolling and monitoring the fire area over the next several days.
The fire did significant damage to power infrastructure. Snyder said Pacific Gas and Electric has mitigated most of the hazards related to damaged power equipment and has crews conducting work related to trees.
Those tree crews are expected to be on the scene for the next four days, Snyder said.
AT&T was in the fire area on Sunday, removing damaged phone lines. Snyder said the company won’t start phone service restoration until Monday.
City and fire officials issued an update on the situation on Sunday, reporting that a limited repopulation of the fire area was allowed from 5 to 7 p.m. Fire district personnel were there to hand out N95 masks to those going into the evacuation area.
City Manager Alan Flora said the final evacuation order, for zone CLE-E157-A, will be lifted at 8 a.m. Monday.
That zone covers everything in the city of Clearlake to the south of 18th Avenue and east of Highway 53 except for Adventist Health Clear Lake Hospital.
The Red Cross and the city of Clearlake opened a temporary evacuation shelter on Saturday evening at the Clearlake Senior Community Center, located at 3245 Bowers Ave.
Showering, restroom facilities, a place to stay for humans and pets, and a limited supply of drinking water are available at the shelter.
Email Elizabeth Larson at elarson@lakeconews.com. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.