Firefighters await milder weather conditions
Heat wave expected to end later this week
Firefighters battling the destructive Glass fire in the heart of California’s wine country were cautiously optimistic that weather conditions could aid them against the bla ze later this week, even as they braced for what promises to be another hot , dry, windy couple of days.
With wildfires raging up and dow n California , the Glass fire has ripped through 62,360 acres in Napa and Sonoma counties, destroy ing homes a nd beloved v ineya rd s nor th of Ca listoga and ea st of St. Helena . But with containment up to 10% as of Saturday, Cal Fire of f icials said a favorable weather forecast could soon give crews an edge — so long as they push through another bout of high winds and low humidity expected to last through this morning.
The forecast of gusts up to 35 mph led the the National Weather Service Saturday afternoon to reissue a red flag warning for the North Bay hills above 1,000 feet that lasted until 6 a.m. today.
“If we get through this operational period and get better humidity, that’ll be a good turning point,” said Donna Sager, a Cal Fire public information officer for the Glass fire. “Getting through this next period will be the key.”
Although f lames were active throughout Saturday, the high winds fire crews feared going into the weekend were largely absent, Sager said. A nd s ome lighter w inds helped clear smoke near the f ires, a llow ing aircraf t to drop retardant
and water for the f irst t ime in d ay s. St a r t in g this week, temperatures a re ex pected to cool off into the 80s and 70s as a marine layer moves in, upping moisture levels.
Firefighters meanwhile reported better strongholds surrounding Calistoga, which remains under evacuation order, plus progress in staving off the flames near Santa Rosa, allowing some evacuation warnings to lift.
“Calistoga is looking a lot better; we were able to get in do a lot of control lines in there, do a lot of structure defense,” Cal Fire Batallion Chief Mark Brunton said in a Saturday update. “We’re feeling more confident on
that side.”
Cal Fire also was bolstered by newly arrived crews from Oregon, which Brunton said have helped protect the communities of Angwin and Pope Valley — expected to be some of the primary areas of concern in the coming days. Crews in that area battled spot fires overnight sparked by embers landing on extremely dry vegetation. Firefighters also are working “diligently” on the west side of Highway 29, south of Calistoga, to save the BotheNapa Valley State Park, Brunton said.
in Sonoma County, south of Santa Rosa, crews have been aided by some work left behind after the deadly
2017 Tubbs fire, which destroyed thousands of homes in that city and caused 22 deaths.
“We’re using old control lines from the 2017 fires,” Brunton said. “Some of those have had success, some of them … the fire blew past that.”
Since it started on Sept. 27, the fire has destroyed 120 single- family homes, four mult i- family residenc e s a nd one m i xed residential and commercial property in Sonoma Count y. Eight commercial str uc t ures have been destroyed, as have 131 minor structures and outbuildings. Meanwhile 173 single- family homes and one mixed residen
tia l a nd c om me r c i a l proper t y have been destroyed in Napa County, along with 264 commercia l build in gs a nd 12 3 minor structures.
“This is a really tough t i me . T her e a r e fol k s who have evacuated who don’t know if they have a home … There are people who know their home burned and can’t return,” Napa County Supervisor Diane Dillon said during a community briefing. “It’s a very, very difficult time.”
A red flag warning issued by the National Weather Service’s San Francisco Bay Area office expired Saturday morning before being reissued later in the day. The service is forecasting low humidity and temperatures in the 90s today.
Weather officials say that up to an inch of rain could fall in the Nor th Bay and San Francisco star ting Friday, prov iding a potential cushion against the bone- dry vegetation fueling the flames. But it’s too early to say how likely that is, meteorologist Jeff Lorber cautioned.
“We’ll take anything that we can get at this point,” Lorber said.
Farther north, the deadly Zogg fire in Shasta and Tehama counties grew slightly and continues to burn a mix of grass, oak and timber fuels, Cal Fire officials said Saturday.
T he fire, which has caused four deaths, has burned 56,305 acres and is 57% contained. It has destroyed 179 structures and threatens 101 other buildings.
The Dolan fire south of Big Su r, wh ic h h a s bu r ne d 1 2 4 , 92 4 a c r e s since it sparked in late August, has reached 90% containment.
Bay A rea resident s meanwhile got a reprieve from unhealthy air Saturday morning. Most of the East Bay and South Bay sported air levels in the 60-100 or “moderate” range, but air quality in the Livermore and Concord areas and parts of Gilroy remained in the red or “unhealthy” zone.
While ocean air usua lly helps to clea r out smoke , t he numb er of fires burning statewide mean that onshore winds a r e n’ t likely to of fer much relief, a ccord ing to NWS until the muchneeded shift in the weather comes this week.
“It’s probably going to be like this until we get some rain,” Sager said. “There’s been no fatalities, no loss of life, and that’s saying a lot …. But people are just worn out.”