Fire near Lake Berryessa burns 4,700 acres, continues to grow

A wildfire near Lake Berryessa grew to 4,700 acres Thursday, as more than 600 firefighters worked to halt the blaze’s spread and prevent homes from burning. The Cold Fire, named after a nearby road, ignited Tuesday shortly after 4:30 p.m. along Highway 128, west of Pleasants Valley Road near the Yolo-Solano county line. More than 20 crews were using 65 fire engines, eight helicopters, six air tankers, 15 water tenders and 22 bulldozers to halt the blaze’s spread to the north and south along Highway 128, in hard-to-reach rugged grass and oak woodland areas in Yolo County, Cal Fire reported. Officials were discussing lifting the evacuation for Golden Bear Estates Thursday morning as flames continued to move north into more sparsely populated terrain. In Monterey County, the Soberanes Fire had burned 51,000 acres and was 27 percent contained Thursday morning, Cal Fire reported. A privately contracted bulldozer operator was killed in a roll-over crash while he was fighting the fire.