[1] It began shortly after 1:00 pm near Cobb with multiple reports of a small brush fire near the intersection of High Valley and Bottlerock Roads.
[3] By Sunday, the thirteenth of September, the fire had reached 50,000 acres (202 km2) and had destroyed much of Cobb, Middletown, Whispering Pines, and parts in the south end of Hidden Valley Lake.
[4] The fire ultimately spread to 76,067 acres (308 km2), killed four people and destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings,[1][5][6][7] before it was fully contained on October 15, 2015,[1] causing at least $921 million (equivalent to $1.18 billion in 2023[8]) in insured property damage.
[13][14] On September 12, mandatory evacuation orders were issued for Cobb, Middletown, Loch Lomond, Harbin Hot Springs, Hidden Valley Lake, the Clearlake Riviera, Riviera West, and Soda Bay communities of unincorporated parts of Kelseyville, Pope Valley and Angwin.
[7] On September 23, Lake County deputies found human remains that belonged to a missing Cobb resident.
On September 14, a man posing as a California Highway Patrol officer was arrested in Whispering Pines on suspicion of removing an artifact of archaeological interest.
[23] In November 2015, a concert with country musicians Diamond Rio and Joe Diffie, and Ukiah country singer-songwriter McKenna Faith was held at the SOMO Village Event Center in Rohnert Park to raise money for Valley Fire victims.