Original post: Cal Fire is in the third full day of a battle to contain a fire burning through rugged country just east of Lake Berryessa. The agency reports it has about 1,600 firefighters on the lines against the Monticello Fire, which broke out about 9:30 Friday night and had charred 6,500 acres through early Monday. The fire is 35 percent contained.

The main challenges in the fire: the sometimes precipitous ridges near the lake, daytime temperatures approaching 100 and the threat of gusty afternoon winds. The fire is burning north of Highway 128, about 10 miles west of the Yolo County town of Winters. The blaze initially threatened a subdivision and a resort near Monticello Dam when it started Friday evening, but residents and campers have been allowed to return to the area.

As fire officials told the San Francisco Chronicle, the drought's impact on the mix of grass, brush and woodland played a big part in the fire's rapid spread.

... California's drought has created the type of dangerous conditions that "you usually don't see until August or September," said Cal Fire spokesman Kevin Lucero.

"Seeing it in July is very troublesome," he said.

Plus, Lucero said, thickets of manzanitas and other "fuels we're dealing with there are very dry from the drought." The brush was so thick it appeared that it hadn't burned off for at least 20 years, he said. There was little humidity Sunday, and the temperatures topped 100 degrees in some spots, fire officials said.

Northwest of Lake Berryessa, Cal Fire crews continued to make progress against the Butts Fire. That blaze, which has burned across 4,300 acres on the border of Napa and Lake counties, is 90 percent contained.

Monticello FireMonticello Fire

Cal Fire Still Looking for Cause of Big Monticello Blaze