Wildfire prompts evacuation orders
A fast-moving vegetation fire near St. Helena in Napa County forced the evacuations of thousands of people just hours after it started Sunday, an ominous development as a heat wave swept overmuch of Northern California, stoking higher fire danger.
The blaze, dubbed the Glass wildfire, had burned some 1,500 acres and was 0% contained as of Sunday evening. Cal Fire spokesman Erick Hernandez said the cause of the fire remains
under investigation.
The blaze began as a hotair mass settled in over the region, trapping in stale air and pushing temperatures toward the 100- degree mark in some areas on Sunday. Erratic offshore winds were also stymying firefighters’ efforts to predict the blaze’s behavior and gain the upper hand, Hernandez said.
Areas above 1,000 feet in the North Bay and much of the East Bay remained on a “red flag warning” for dangerous fire conditions through Monday evening due to the highwinds. Monday is projected to be the hottest day of the current heat wave, with temperatures expected to be 15 to 20 degrees higher than normal, reaching above 100 in the inland East Bay.
Bay Area air quality regulators also instituted a “spare the air” advisory for Monday, warning that smoke from the Glass wildfire was being pulled closer to the central Bay Area.
National Weather Service meteorologist Brayden Murdock said the North Bay winds Sunday afternoon were definitely affecting fire behavior near the Glass Fire site.
“The wind is going to be a big factor in how this fire behaves,” Murdock said, saying that the unpredictable gusts made it impossible to know how the fire might grow or wither.
He expressed greater concern around “winds not allowing much in the way of humidity to build back up,” leading to a dry night that could leave plants and trees near the fire zone with little protection.
Murdock added that much of the Glass wildfire’s smoke was heading Sunday directly southwest into portions of Marin County rather than greater Bay Area skies.
Although some smoke from fire sites near Fresno is shifting toward the Bay Area, “it’s not going to be pouring in, not as bad as what we saw two weeks ago with the orange skies,” he added. “A lot of that smoke is along higher altitudes, as far as that mixing with surface air, so we could see not strong but likely hazier conditions.”
As onshore winds pick up in the next few days, Murdock said, coastal areas will see relief, with areas from Gilroy to San Jose also getting slower cooling-offs.
The Glass wildfire was first reported just before 5 a.m. Sunday as a 20-acre vegetation fire burning off North Fork Crystal Springs Road in Deer Park.
By around 8 a.m. Sunday, officials said the fire had already grown to 800 acres. At midday, it was 1,200 acres.
Air crews dropped fire retardant and water throughout the day over the steep terrain. There were no immediate reports of injuries or structural damage, although some videos posted to socialmedia purported to show structures burning in the area.
Evacuation warnings were quickly issued and turned to evacuation orders in several areas around Deer Park, northeast of St. Helena, and along the eastern side of the Silverado Trail.
“Right now the priority is evacuations and the safety of the community but making sure we have a good plan in place,” Hernandez said Sunday. “Unlike the LNU Lightning Complex where we had dry lightning andwe had to ground air support, that’s not the case here and we’ve been able to make some headway using air support.”
The fire also prompted the evacuation of Adventist under investigation.
The blaze began as a hotair mass settled in over the region, trapping in stale air and pushing temperatures toward the 100-degree mark in some areas on Sunday. Erratic offshore winds were also stymying firefighters’ efforts to predict the blaze’s behavior and gain the upper hand, Hernandez said.
Areas above 1,000 feet in the North Bay and much of the East Bay remained on a “red flag warning” for dangerous fire conditions through Monday evening due to the high winds. Monday is projected to be the hottest day of the current heat wave, with temperatures expected to be 15 to 20 degrees higher than normal, reaching above 100 in the inland East Bay.
Bay Area air quality regulators also instituted a “spare the air” advisory for Monday, warning that smoke from the Glass wildfire was being pulled closer to the central Bay Area.
National Weather Service meteorologist Brayden Murdock said the North Bay winds Sunday afternoon were definitely affecting fire behavior near the Glass Fire site.
“The wind is going to be a big factor in how this fire behaves,” Murdock said, saying that the unpredictable gusts made it impossible to know how the fire might grow or wither.
He expressed greater concern around “winds not allowing much in the way of humidity to build back up,” leading to a dry night that could leave plants and trees near the fire zone with little protection.
Murdock added that much of the Glass wildfire’s smoke was heading Sunday directly southwest into portions of Marin County rather than greater Bay Area skies.
A smaller fire also broke out Sunday near the historic lighthouse at Point Reyes National Seashore, burning toward the ocean and away from the lighthouse. Officials had already closed trails, beaches and campgrounds within the national seashore because of the nearby Woodward fire, sparked by lightning on Aug. 18.