Boyles Fire is just the latest destructive wildfire to hit Lake County in past decade

As crews continue to work to contain the relatively small but destructive Boyles Fire in Lake County , some neighbors told CBS News Bay Area they have been through this all before.

Firefighters think they've stopped forward progress on this fire, but plenty of hotspots remain. The Boyles Fire broke out Sunday afternoon east of Highway 53 . Cal Fire started its attack soon after, by air and on the ground.

Cal Fire said the fire has burned 81 acres -- only about a tenth of a square mile -- but in that area, it has destroyed approximately 30 buildings, including many homes, as well as up to 50 vehicles .

As of Monday afternoon, officials said the fire is 40% contained . More than 2,000 people are under evacuation orders, but some chose to stay behind to protect their homes.

"I got a phone call from my mother saying come back home. I had the truck and that's what we used to take more things out of there," said evacuated resident Jose Morales. "So I came back home and fire started spreading because of the wind."

The fire also hit a main transmission line, knocking out power to thousands of people around Lake County.

Robert Birge watched the fire approach from his back fence and within minutes embers were landing on his home, and the house next door, as the fire eventually cared a hopscotch path through his neighborhood.

"The fire had jumped well over 19th Ave. And that's where it started hitting all these houses straight down the line," Birge explained. "They were like tinder boxes, all these houses over here, because they're older ones. I think all in all it took like eight or nine houses here on 20th alone."

Autumn Lancaster.is the Lake County Fire Marshal detailed some of the damage from the Boyle Fire.

"They're saying 30 structures lost and 40 to 60 vehicles damaged as well," said Lancaster. "The fire came from this area here. It's a lot of raw land behind commercial and residential areas. A lot of brush, a lot of manzanita."

The source of the fire was back downhill, where several fires have started recently. There was some discussion among many neighbors about the homeless encampments there. That is also where CBS News Bay Area saw firefighters poking around late Monday afternoon.

"It's a high possibility. They have been out here. It's happened more than once in this exact location," said Clearlake resident Matt Swinford.

"So those fires are still under investigation, as is this one. Our investigators are there at the origin now," said Lancaster. "But in terms of past fires, until the investigation is concluded we can't talk about them."

People in Lake County of course are not strangers to wildfires.

The Valley Fire, the Jerusalem Fire and the Rocky Fire all happened in 2015. The Clayton Fire burned in Lower Lake the following year. The Pawnee Fire and the River Fire and Ranch Fire that made up the Mendocino Complex -- at the time the largest fire in state history -- all happened in 2018.

"I lost my house in the Clayton fire," said Birge.

More than 60% of the county has burned since 2015. But like much of the state they did enjoy some relatively quiet years recently.

"You know how we had snow and rain. We had the extremes of the weather, finally," said Birge. "And it's great. But everything grew back."

And fire has returned as well, with a series of scares before homes were lost in the Boyles Fire. And there is much of this year's fire season still to go.

"What can you do? This is life here. We are all used to it," shrugged Birge.

The cause of the latest fire is still under investigation.