Updates: Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies patrolling evacuated areas

5:50 PM: Sonoma County sheriff deputies receive help from San Francisco officers to patrol evacuated areas

Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies helping to patrol evacuated areas and otherwise assist the emergency response as uncontrolled wildfires rage for a fourth day are being assisted by more than 70 peace officers on loan from the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department and San Francisco Police, local Sheriff Mark Essick said in a videotaped Facebook post Thursday.

Sheriff Essick update 8/20/2020

8/20, 3PM: Hey Sonoma County, here's a brief daily update from Sheriff Essick. Here are some good resources for you: Evacuation Map: www.arcg.is/0buuL1 Non-emergency help: Call 2-1-1 Shelters and other resources: socoemergency.org Wildfire cameras: www.alertwildfire.org/northbay

Posted by Sonoma Sheriff on Thursday, August 20, 2020

More than 70 Sonoma County deputies also were patrolling neighborhoods emptied or threatened by fires in the heavily wooded hills west of Healdsburg, where the Walbridge fire produced significant smoke Thursday, as well near Russian River communities on the south and north of the Jenner, around the 3,000-acre Meyers fire.

During various speaking engagements Thursday, Essick said peace officers were on hand to provide assistance, guidance and protection to areas that have been evacuated and urged those who have pulled over on the sides of roads and highways to observe fires or take photos to resist the urge and leave.

He also noted that reports already had arisen of people returning to evacuation zones and requiring rescue, creating “a secondary burden” for police and fire safety personnel.

“This is a reminder,” Essick said in his Facebook post. “Evac zones are dangerous. Please stay out of evacuation zones so fire safety personnel and public safety officers can get in there and fight the fire. Please take care of yourself. Take care of your neighbors.”

4:40 PM: Evacuation warning canceled for hills west of Oakville, Rutherford

Napa County has canceled its evacuation warning for an area west of Highway 29 near Oakville Grade after crews contained the Mondavi fire, which only burned about 5 acres.

3:50 PM: Evacuation warning issued for lower Lake County

An evacuation warning has been issued for a sizable swath of lower Lake County west of Highway 29 around the community of Middletown. It extends north of the shared boundaries with Sonoma and Napa counties through the middle of Boggs Mountain Demonstration Forest to the intersection of Highway 29 and Hofacker Lane near Lower Lake.

The warning zone includes Middletown and much of the same area that was devastated by the fast-moving Valley fire of 2015, a catastrophic wildfire that consumed 40,000 acres in its first 12 hours and helped usher in a new era of cataclysmic fires in Northern California.

Lake County Sheriff Brian L. Martin earlier Thursday declared a state of emergency in response to the Morgan fire, part of the larger Hennessey wildfire that has burned more than 105,000 acres in Napa County, extending beyond its borders.

The Morgan fire sparked up Tuesday east of Hidden Valley Lake, prompting mandatory evacuations there and in communities east of Highway 29 on Wednesday.

The 4,500-acre Aetna fire also is creeping up past the southern county line.

“We are asking everyone to take preparations in the event that a mandatory evacuation order is issued,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post. “Preparations should include gathering all medications, important documents, making plans for pets, and notifying family members where you may be going. Those requiring additional time to evacuate or those with pets or livestock should leave the area as soon as possible. During a mandatory evacuation, it will be extremely hectic and traffic conditions will be very congested. By evacuating early, you do your part in keeping yourself, your neighbors, and our first responders safe.”

3:30 PM: New fire triggers Napa County warning

Sometime around 1:30 p.m., another entry was added to the list of dangers in the North Bay as a fire broke out on Walnut Lane, off of Oakville Grade in a wooded area behind world-famous Robert Mondavi Winery.

It threatened structures there and began to spread into the steep hills on the west side of Napa Valley.

Soon, multiple aircraft were responding, including three helicopters, and a bulldozer was en route from Cal Fire’s LNU Lightning Complex effort. A Napa County representative put the Mondavi fire, as emergency crews referred to it, at 5 acres and said firefighters were making “good progress” in attacking it.

Voluntary evacuations were called for portions of Niebaum, Manley and Bella Oaks lanes, and Beerstecher Road.

3 PM: Public officials to hold virtual community meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday

Sonoma County emergency officials and other elected leaders will hold a virtual public meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday to discuss the current wildfire situation.

Members of the public are invited to submit questions in advance to publicaffairs@sonoma-county.org to have them addressed during the session, which will be held on Zoom and played on Facebook with both Spanish and American Sign Language interpretation.

Participants will include state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Santa Rosa, Sonoma County supervisors, Director of Emergency Management Chris Godley, Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick, Cal Fire Division Chief Ben Nicholls, Santa Rosa Fire Chief Tony Gossner and Cal Fire incident PIO Paul Lowenthal.

To view the meeting, go to www.facebook.com/CountyofSonoma or join via Zoom at https://sonomacounty.zoom.us/j/96088366498?pwd=cWFCN1NIUUUwOHh4THp0THNQSmMvQT09. The passcode is 658896.

1:45 PM: Air attack intensifies on Walbridge fire

Fire crews battling the Walbridge fire in west Sonoma County are getting help this afternoon from some powerful friends: a couple of massive air tankers rigged to drop retardant along the edges of the uncontrolled wildfire.

They include a converted 747 Global Supertanker, the largest aerial firefighting air tanker in the world, with a capacity for 19,600 gallons of heavy retardant, and a DC-10 tanker that can carry 12,000 gallons. Both are stationed in Sacramento at the McClellan air base, where they return for refueling.

A Cal Fire tanker and two air attack planes coordinating the firefight, as well as U.S. Forest air support also were on duty Thursday, joining the battle to prevent the 14,500-acre Walbridge from reaching beyond the remote, densely forested hills where it’s been burning since Monday and into heavily populated areas to the east and south.

They are among promised air resources public officials have been lobbying for as a complex of lightning-sparked wildfires around the region enters its fourth day, straining state crews and equipment.

Fire officials said amphibious planes known as “super scoopers,” which can quickly skim the surface of reservoirs like Lake Sonoma and, in seconds, fill their bellies with up to 1,600 gallons of water, also may be deployed to the Walbridge on Thursday.

Track the firefighting flights here, by zooming in over Sonoma County.

1PM: State officials say structure damage significant in largest Sonoma County fire

Cal Fire Operations Chief Charlie Blankenheim confirmed at a Thursday morning press briefing that the Walbridge fire burning north of Guerneville and west of Healdsburg has become the department’s top priority among the cluster of fires within the LNU Lightning Complex that is spread mostly across Sonoma, Napa, Solano and Lake counties.

Wednesday morning, the focus had been neighborhoods at the edge of Vacaville that were under imminent threat. But Blankenheim said Cal Fire and the county and municipal units under its command are “doing really well there.”

But the largest current fire in Sonoma County, the Walbridge, which has merged with the smaller Stewart fire near Lake Sonoma, is a different matter.

Blankenheim said the Walbridge crossed Mill Creek yesterday and made a push to the east, and continues to move south toward Guerneville and Rio Nido. He said Cal Fire has plans in place to protect those communities. The chief called it a “our most dynamic fire” from Tuesday, saying there had been significant structure damage.

As for the Meyers fire, burning north of Jenner, Blankenheim said Cal Fire was making “significant progress on it.” That fire had burned down to the Pacific Ocean and continued to creep toward Fort Ross, but he said units were making progress in containment.

As of Wednesday morning, the Walbridge fire had burned 14,500 acres, the Meyers fire 3,000.

11 AM: Cal Fire, authorities discuss the latest on the LNU Complex fire

Watch the press conference at: https://www.facebook.com/CALFIRELNU/videos/2709928662667930/

11/20 LNU COMPLEX UPDATE

Posted by CAL FIRE Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit on Thursday, August 20, 2020

10:45 AM: Walbridge fire now top priority

The 14,500-acre Walbridge fire in Sonoma County is now the top priority fire in the massive complex of lightning-sparked fire burning across the six-county area that includes Napa and Lake counties, according to Cal Fire Division Chief Ben Nicholls.

Though still substantially understaffed in terms of ground crews and air resources, concerns about its growing threat to densely populated communities has earned the county greater air support as the firefight continues Thursday, including an air attack plane that will be dedicated to Sonoma County to help coordinate the firefight and additional air tanker flights in the afternoon, said Nicholls, who is supervising the Sonoma County’s efforts.

Map of Walbridge fire, Aug. 20, 2020
Map of Walbridge fire, Aug. 20, 2020

The Walbridge is one of two major fires burning in Sonoma County, both of them completely uncontained, though Nicholls said crews have managed to confine the 3,000-acre Meyers fire on the Sonoma Coast west of Meyers Grade Road and south of Fort Ross Road so far, as hoped.

He also said that a third fire that was touched off Wednesday near the southwest portion of Lake Sonoma burned across Stewarts Point-Skaggs Springs Road overnight despite a concerted attack earlier in the day that involved 17 fire engines and aerial attack, and will now be allowed to merge with the Walbridge.

Nicholls’ comments came during a morning press briefing hosted by the county of Sonoma, in which Emergency Management Director Chris Godley and others identified those areas most directly threatened by the Walbridge as Guerneville, Rio Nido and the Sweetwater Springs Canyon on the south, and on the east, the Mill Creek drainage, West Dry Creek Valley, and potentially Geyserville and Healdsburg.

Though the fire remains about halfway up the narrow, winding Mill Creek Road, rising winds turned it eastward Wednesday afternoon and pushed it in the direction of the Highway 101 corridor, Godley said.

“The fire remains a significant threat to communities all along its border,” he said. “The fire behavior is erratic. It can move in any direction. And at this time, we are looking also for potential slight shift in the weather today, which could also pose challenges in understanding and anticipating the fire behavior.”

Though officials have described intense heat and towering flames over 100 feet on this week’s wildfires, cooler, moister and calmer weather overnight and Thursday morning has made for less explosive growth than Sonoma County residents have experienced in the past few years.

But officials urged residents to heed evacuation orders and to prepare to leave home if they are under warnings.

“I know that some people are, you know, relieved that homes are not on fire right now on the valley floor in, you know, Guerneville and the lower Russian River. And yet, just as a reminder, this fire is zero percent contained,” said Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins, whose district encompasses the fire zone. “So it's still really critical that this is taken extremely seriously. And if you are in a mandatory evacuation zone, we just remind you to please get out, because that's the most important thing. In order for our firefighters to fight the fire, folks need to be out of their homes and safely relocated.”

Supervisor James Gore, who lives at the edge of Healdsburg, where all 12,000 residents were placed under evacuation warning on Wednesday night, reiterated her words, noting that he and his family packed their important documents and belongings and staged them at a friend’s home.

“While you and we and even the firefighters cannot control this fire, and zero percent contained, you can control your actions,” he said.

10:20 AM: Scenes from the Walbridge fire

The Walbridge fire burning in the hills west of Healdsburg prompted city officials to issue an evacuation warning for all Healdsburg residents late Wednesday.

Reporter Tyler Silvy showed what it looked like in the afternoon:

9:15 AM: Current Cal Fire road closures

Sonoma County:

•Highway 1 at Fort Ross Road. No traffic on southbound Highway 1 and no traffic eastbound on Fort Ross Road

•Highway 1 at Meyers Grade Road. No traffic on northbound Highway 1 and no traffic on northbound

•Meyers Grade Road

•Fort Ross Road at Seaview Road. No traffic on westbound Fort Ross Road and no

traffic on eastbound Fort Ross Road

•Myers Grade Road at Fort Ross Road. No traffic on southbound Meyers Grade Road

•Dry Creek Road at Dry Creek

•Yoakim Bridge Road at Dry Creek

•Lytton Springs Road at Dry Creek

•Westside Road at Dry Creek

•Wohler Road at River Road

•Odd Fellows Park Road at Russian River

•Bohemian Hwy at Russian River

•Moscow Road at Highway 116

•Highway 116 at Highway 1

•King Ridge Road at Sewell Road, private road with gates

•Skaggs Springs Road at Sewell Road/Anvil Ranch

Napa County:

• Highway 121 at Wooden Valley Road (this was previously the Highway 121 at Highway 128 closure). This closure will be staffed by an officer

• Circle Oaks is being or will be evacuated

• Highway 128 at Pleasants Valley Road. Woodland CHP and Caltrans are staffing this closure. No traffic westbound on Highway 128 from this intersection. Traffic can move east on Highway 128 and south on Pleasants Valley Road

• Butts Canyon Road at Snell Valley Road. This closure is staffed by a CHP officer

• Highway 128 at Silverado Trail. This closure is staffed by a CHP officer and Caltrans

• Atlas Peak Road at Westgate Drive. No traffic north on Atlas Peak Road past Westgate Drive. This section of Atlas Peak is being or will be evacuated

• Soda Canyon Road at Silverado Trail. Soda Canyon Road north of Loma

Vista Drive is being or will be evacuated. No traffic on Soda Canyon Road north of Loma Vista

Additional road closures are expected.

9:05 AM: Mendocino County warning lifted

The fire evacuation warning for the Creek fire near Covelo in Mendocino County has been lifted.

There are no active evacuation warnings or orders for this incident.

8:45 AM: 105 structures destroyed in Lightning Complex fire

The Lightning group of fires in Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties grew to 131,000 acres and has destroyed 105 structures. It remains uncontrolled as of 8:15 Thursday morning, Cal Fire announced.

The Hennessey fire, which includes the merged Gamble, Green, Markley, Spanish and Morgan fires, has burned 105,000 acres in Napa County and destroyed one house and two outbuildings. That is an increase of about 5,000 from overnight.

In Sonoma County, the Walbridge fire west of Healdsburg, grew slightly overnight to 14,500 acres and remained uncontained. It was listed at 14,000 acres late Wednesday night.

North of Jenner, the Meyers fire totaled 3,000 acres.

In Lake County, the Round fire had consumed 4,000 acres and the Aetna fire in Napa and Lake counties was 4,500 acres.

Evacuation notices remained in Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties

Orders to leave immediately and warnings to be prepared to leave included:

Sonoma County evacuation orders:

• North of Austin Creek Recreational Area

• East of The Cedars

• Mill Creek Road west of the intersection of Puccioni Road

• South of Stewarts Point Skaggs Springs Road

• South of Stewarts Point Skaggs Springs Road

• West of West Dry Creek Road and Westside Road

• North of Sweetwater Springs Road and McCray Ridge Road

• East of the East Austin Creek (the actual creek)

Sonoma County evacuation warnings:

• West of Meyers Grade Road to the coast

• South of Fort Ross Road

• North of Russian Gulch State Beach

• North of Austin Cree Recreational Area

• East of Cedars

• West of Mill Creek Road

• South of Stewarts Point-Skaggs Spring Road

Meyers Fire - County Evacuation Zone 1F1

• All areas east of Bohemian Hwy.

• North of Graton Road and Harrison Grade Road

• West of Harrison Grade Road, Green Valley Road, and Hwy. 116

• South of the Russian River

Meyers Fire - County Evacuation Zone 1F2

• All areas south of the Russian River

• East and North of Hwy. 116 (Pocket Canyon)

• West of Martinelli Road

Walbridge Fire - County Evacuation Zone 4A1

• All areas East of the Russian River

• North of River Road

• West of Trenton Healdsburg Road and Eastside Road

• South of the area between the western dead end of Windsor River Road and the Russian River

Walbridge – Evacuation Zone 4B1 (Northern Forestville)

• All areas south of River Road from Martinelli Road to Trenton Road

• West of Covey Road.

• North of Front Street/Highway 116

• East of Martinelli Road

Walbridge – Evacuation Zone 2K2

• All areas south of Hwy. 101

• East of the Russian River to the Windsor Town limits

• North of where Windsor River Road dead ends extending west to the Russian River.

Meyers – Evacuation Zone 1E3

• All areas south of the Russian River

• West of Bohemian Highway

• North and East of Coleman valley Rd. and Willow Creek Road

Meyers – Evacuation Zone 1E1

• All areas south and west of Willow Creek Rd.

• North of Coleman Valley Rd. and Wright Hill Rd.

• East of the California Coastal National Monument (BLM property)

Meyers - Evacuation Zone - 1C1

• All areas east of the Sonoma coast to the south fork of the Gualala River

South of Kruse Ranch Road and Howser Bridge Rd. to Fort Ross Road

Napa County evacuation orders:

• The Evacuation Order on Monticello Road from Vichy Ave to Silverado Trail is now an Evacuation Warning.

• Ink Grade – from Pope Valley Road to White Cottage Road

• Howell Mountain Road – From Pope Valley Road to White Cottage Road

• Highway 128 from Lower Chiles Valley Road to Monticello Road

• Highway 128 from Chiles Pope Valley Road to Lower Chiles Valley Road

• Chiles Pope Valley Road from Highway 128 to Lower Chiles Valley Road

• All of Hennessey Ridge Road

• From Moskowite Corner to Wooden Valley Rd, Including the community of Circle Oaks

• Atlas Peak from the Bubbing Well Pet Cemetary at 2462 Atlas Peak Rd to the dead end

• From Loma Vista Rd / Soda Canyon Rd to the dead end

• All of Steele Canyon Rd from Hwy 128 to and including the Berryessa

Highlands Subdivison

• Wragg Canyon Rd - from Hwy 128 to the end of the road, including Pleasure Cove Resort

• Chiles Pope Valley Road - From Lower Chiles Valley Road to Pope Canyon Road

• Highway 121 (Monticello Road) – from Wooden Valley Road to Silveraldo Trail

• Pope Valley Rode – From Aetna Springs Road to Chiles Pope Valley Road

• Aetna Springs Road – From Pope Valley to the dead end

• Butts Canyon Road – From Aetna Springs Road to the Lake County Line

• James Creek Road – From Butts Canyon Road to the dead end

• Highway 121 (Monticello Road) – from Wooden Valley Road to Vichy Ave

• Community of Anguin

• Community of Deer Park

• St. Helena Hospital

• East side of Highway 29 from Lake County line down to Silverado Trail

• East side of Silverado Trail from Highway 29 to Highway 128

• Northwest side of Highway 128 to Chiles Pope Valley Road

• Northwest side of Chiles Pope Valley Road to Pope Valley Road

• Northwest side of Pope Valley Road to Butts Canyon Road

• West side of Butts Canyon to Lake County

Lake County evacuation orders:

In and around Hidden Valley Lake and Jerusalem Valley areas. This includes residents living north of Butts Canyon Road, South of Hofacker Lane to Morgan Valley Road, East of Highway 29 and west of the Lake/Napa County line.

• Eastside of Highway 29 – North of the Napa/Lake County line up to the Southern Intersection of Highway 29 / St Helena Creek Road (across from the Twin Pine Casino)

• All of St Helena Creek Road to the Highway 29 / St Helena Creek Road / Butts Canyon intersection

• This evacuation order does not include the Middletown proper

Residents are advised that there is an immediate threat to life and property from a wildfire, and are urged to evacuate.

A temporary evacuation point has been setup at the old airstrip off Highway 53 in Clearlake.

7:50 AM: Sonoma County residents asked to conserve household water use during fires

With multiple wildfires out of control and firefighting efforts scrambling around the region and state to douse them, some Sonoma County cities have asked their residents to conserve water.

The city of Santa Rosa issued this alert to residents: bit.ly/2YvHDXT

“The largest of these wildfires could threaten the source of our drinking water that comes from the Russian River via the Sonoma water aqueduct into Santa Rosa,” it says. “The more water we can store now for essential needs and firefighting, the better prepared we will be during this emergency.”

It asks residents to save water by turning off outdoor irrigation and conserving water indoors where possible.

Recommendations for indoor water saving include:

•Taking fewer and shorter showers

•Flushing toilets only for solids

•Postponing laundry washing

•Waiting to run the dishwasher until it’s full

The city of Rohnert Park said is has stepped efforts to pump groundwater during this time.

Click on the link above for more suggestions.

Click here https://www.sonomawater.org/fire to read more from Sonoma Water about the county’s water resources.

7 AM: Fires continue to grow, additional school cancellations

The group of lightning-sparked fires in Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties continued to grow overnight, reaching 131,000 acres burned by Thursday morning, according to Cal Fire.

That’s an increase from 124,100 from Wednesday night.

Further details are expected with a full Cal Fire update soon.

Lightning strikes Sunday and Monday caused about 60 fires in Sonoma, Napa, Lake, Solano and Yolo counties.

In and near Sonoma County, fire crews are battling the Hennessey fire, the largest blaze that merged with two others in Napa County (totaling 100,000 acres Wednesday night), and two others in northwest Sonoma County, the Walbridge fire (14,000 acres) and Meyers fire (2,500)

Cal Fire has established a public hotline for seeking information on the LNU Lightning Complex: 707-967-4207.

The Sonoma County Office of Education has released a full list of schools canceled due to evacuations:

The following schools/districts have canceled distance learning due to evacuations.

  • Alexander Valley School District (closed Thursday)
  • Guerneville School District (closed through Friday, Aug. 21)
  • Healdsburg (closed Thursday)
  • Kashia School (closed Thursday)
  • Monte Rio School District (closed through Friday, Aug. 21)
  • Montgomery School District (closed through Friday, Aug. 21)
  • West Side School District (Closed Thursday)

Additional school districts in or near the evacuation area include Fort Ross and Forestville, both of which are not yet in session. Families are advised to check the school district for updates about distance learning.

In addition to Sonoma County law enforcement helping with evacuations and other fire-related assistance, several other agencies in the region have sent help.

The Sonoma County CHP, Petaluma Police Department, the Santa Rosa Junior College Police Department, and the San Francisco Police Department have assigned officers to assist with fire duties.

You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 707-521-5470 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @loriacarter.

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