2 million remain without power
More evacuations and shut-offs loom as Northern Calif. winds threaten to pick up.
Northern Californians face more evacuations and shut-offs as winds threaten to pick up.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — Like thousands of Northern California residents, Heidi Santos lost power at her home over the weekend in the wake of extreme fire danger.
The mother of two was camped out at a resource tent stationed outside a Catholic church in St. Helena on Tuesday morning while her 8- and 10-year-old children played at a nearby Boys and Girls Club. Ironically, the tent where she charged her cellphone was provided by Pacific Gas & Electric, the utility responsible for the massive public safety power shut-off in an effort to prevent wildfires.
The shut-offs have left more than 2 million people in the dark.
Without electricity, Santos couldn’t cook for her young son, who is allergic to a long list of foods — soy, eggs, gluten, almonds and fish.
What was in her refrigerator has long since spoiled, and Santos’ only option now is buying food from restaurants or nonperishable items from the market. To make matters worse, she hasn’t worked in two days because the home where she works as a housekeeper was evacuated.
For Santos and tens of thousands of others, the impacts of this month’s fire weather have no end in sight.
Evacuation orders for nearly 200,000 people were still in place in Sonoma County on Tuesday and more were possible as winds were expected to pick up Tuesday evening, prompting additional power shutoffs and stalling progress in containing the explosive Kincade fire.
The fire had grown overnight by nearly 10,000 acres, but firefighters took taking advantage of lighter winds, finally increasing containment of the massive 76,138-acre blaze to 15%. At least a dozen more homes had burned in the past day, bringing the total to 86.
Tuesday morning in Santa Rosa, smoke lingered in the air, but the wind was still and the skies were blue. At a morning briefing, officials weighed the weather forecast for the next 24 hours.
“Today’s a transition day,” said Jonathan Cox, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “If we are looking good as far as fire growth this time [Wednesday] morning, I feel like that cautious optimism will be solidified. If we’re not, if we have explosive growth tonight, we have our work cut out for us.”
Two firefighters have been injured while battling the blaze. One was seriously burned and airlifted to a UC Davis hospital. The person was in stable condition, according to Cal Fire.
Despite the fire’s massive scale and the large number of structures that have been damaged, there have been no deaths reported in the blaze. Fire officials say that’s partly because of a proactive approach and vast evacuation zones that have taken many out of harm’s way.
Because the heavy winds were widely anticipated and the fire started in a lesspopulated area, crews had much more time than during the 2017 Tubbs fire to evacuate people and get prepared, even with the looming blackouts, authorities said.
Cox told The Times that fire crews, in anticipation of the coming blackouts, tried to get people evacuated over the weekend before the power went out.
“Firefighters are very good at operating without power,” he said. “A lot of times, we ask for it to be closed down on fires to minimize the risk . ... I think, for us, it kind of reinforces the message that early evacuation is so important because of the potential that you may not have power later down the line.”
Additionally, strike teams were already in the area around the Kincade fire before it broke out, allowing for a swift response.
On Tuesday, firefighters were awaiting dangerous winds. Gusts were expected to reach up to 65 mph after 6 p.m. in the mountains and up to 35 mph in the valleys where the fire is burning, according to Spencer Tangen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. The weather will continue to dry out into Wednesday, posing another challenge for fire crews.
Tangen said a red f lag advisory would be in effect until 4 p.m. Wednesday and warned residents — even those without power who are using generators — to be extra cautious because fires can spark more easily in this weather.
“The good news is after we get through this wind event, things do look favorable for the next five to seven days,” National Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Walbrun said at a morning briefing in Santa Rosa. “No rain in the forecast, but also no more offshore wind events.”
Even as Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has implemented shut-offs to prevent additional fires, Northern California continues to see small fires exploding throughout the region. The utility revealed Monday that its equipment malfunctioned near two fires that broke out in Contra Costa County on Sunday afternoon, and the California Public Utilities Commission announced it would investigate how PG&E handles its shut-offs.
The utility said about 596,000 customers from the Northern Sierra to Kern County may be without power again as winds pick up this evening. In Sonoma County, more outages were also expected.
Meanwhile, more evacuations are possible.
At the Holy Assumption Monastery, the lights were still on thanks to the Calistoga city generator. But the sisters were on high alert.
Sister Marie Callas wore an N95 smoke mask over her dark brown nun’s habit as she flipped the little sign outside the monastery bookstore from “Closed” to “Open.”
The nuns had a Therapure air filter running just behind the counter to try to keep the air clean.
The small city known for its hot springs and mud baths is nestled in Napa Valley, east of where firefighters have been battling the Kincade fire.
The 10 nuns living at this turreted complex have been under an evacuation warning since the weekend.
If the call comes, the 10 sisters, four cats and four birds will pile into three vehicles and drive about three hours north, to another monastery in Manton, Calif., that has a large guesthouse. They plan to take along as many religious icons from their chapel as they can carry.