Glass Fire grows overnight
Wine Country blaze burns 56,781 acres by Thursday
The orange glow in the hills above Calistoga grew increasingly bright Wednesday night as the flames from the Glass Fire crept closer to the idyllic downtown in California’s Wine Country.
As of 11 p.m., the fire on the hillside remained “extremely active,” according to the National Weather Service, following a firefight that was entering its fifth day. Throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, favorable weather conditions slowed the spread of the blaze, but another red-flag warning — meaning high winds, dry and extremely high temperatures — was looming Thursday afternoon.
Crews increased their containment of the Glass Fire to 5 percent by Thursday morning, accord
ing to Cal Fire, while the blaze grew by about 5,000 acres overnight to 56,781 acres in total size. At least 143 homes have been destroyed in Napa and Sonoma counties, and at least another 46 sustained damage by the flames.
Cal Fire Chief Mark Brunton said the extreme fire conditions were expected to set in at 1 p.m. Thursday and last approximately 36 hours.
“The spread of the fire is almost imminent as we speak,” he said during a virtual press briefing.
The winds could potentially push the flames down the Highway 29 corridor of Napa Valley — where a large share of the county’s wineries are — as well as into the communities of Angwin on the east side of the fire and Kenwood and Glen Ellen to the south.
“We’re doing everything we can and allocating our resources as best as we can to try to mitigate the threat, but it is something we’re extremely concerned about,” Brunton said.
Early Thursday morning, weather forecasters expanded their weather warning to include the East Bay hills and Santa Cruz mountains, where two large fires were sparked by lightning last month, then fueled by similar hot and dry conditions. The red-flag warning started at 1 p.m. Thursday and will remain in place through at least 6 p.m. Friday, according to the NWS.
In the immediate Bay Area, air quality was expected to take a dive through at least Friday, according to the NWS, as smoke from “numerous” fires drifted toward the region. Forecasters also issued a heat advisory for the region from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday with temperatures expected to be 15-25 degrees higher than normal.
Brunton said the fire lines along Highway 12 and near Santa Rosa are strong and the threat is very low to Sonoma County’s largest city, where about 13,000 residents were still under evacuation orders as of Tuesday.
On Wednesday night, a new round of evacuation orders was issued for areas between Old Lawley Toll Road and Pope Valley Road from Ink Grade Road to Aetna Springs Road, as well as all recreational areas in or near Robert Louis Stevenson State Park. Highway 29 from Tubbs Lane to the Lake County line remains open to through vehicle traffic.