Clearlake council ratifies local emergency after Boyle’s Fire, approves assistance center and temporary road closures

Clearlake’s City Council unanimously ratified a local emergency declaration on Sept. 12, 2024, after staff reported widespread damage from the Boyle’s Fire and approved temporary road closures to support a Local Assistance Center (LAC) at the youth center.

City staff told the council that the fire consumed about 81 acres, prompted roughly 4,000 evacuations and left about 9,000 utility customers in the city without power. "We were able to repopulate all residences at 7AM last evening," an unidentified staff speaker said. Staff provided an initial count of damaged property that included 25 destroyed dwellings, three damaged dwellings, 32 destroyed accessory buildings and four damaged accessory buildings — a total the staff described as 64 structures damaged or destroyed — and 79 vehicles destroyed. The staff gave an initial estimate of approximately $15,000,000 in public and private damages.

The council approved two actions by voice vote. One was approval of a temporary closure…