Solano County fire forces evacuations

The Quail Fire in Solano County just north of Vacaville grew to 1,200 acres on Saturday evening, and was 5% contained as of 9 p.m.

It threatened 100 structures and prompted mandatory evacuations for Quail Canyon Road between Pleasants Valley Road and Highway 12, according to Cal Fire’s SonomaLakeNapa Unit.

Satellite images showed that smoke was blowing into Sacramento, according to the National Weather Service.

Firefighters were battling two other wildfires of over 100 acres each in Sonoma and Contra Costa counties.

In Sonoma County, a 107acre wild land fire was burning in the 600 block of Stage Gulch Road, just south of Petaluma.

Shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday, Cal Fire officials said that fire’s forward movement had stopped.

In Contra Costa County, a 135acre fire was blazing just off Willow Pass Court and Evora Road, located southwest of Concord, Cal Fire officials said. It was 50% contained as of 6:45 p.m. Photos shared by Cal Fire’s Santa Clara Unit showed white smoke rising from blackened land.

“The road system and canal in the area has slowed the fire’s progression,” officials with Cal Fire’s Santa Clara Unit said on Twitter. “Ground crews are making access, and the air tankers have dropped fire retardant and are returning to the fire.”

Will Pi, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, told The Chronicle that winds gusted between 35

“Our county remains fully staffed and able to respond to all emergencies.”

Butte County fire officials on Twitter

and 45 mph Saturday evening but that the gusts would probably decrease “a little bit” on Saturday night to 15 to 25 mph. Those winds could persist for the “good part of the night,” he said.

“As long as the winds are behaving the way they are predicting, it’s a straight easterly flow, it’s not like it’s an unpredictable wind,” Pi said. “Firefighters should have a handle on that.”

As the Quail Fire grew quickly in Solano County, Cal Fire’s Butte Unit/Butte County Fire Department announced it was sending a strike team — including five engines and one chief officer — to respond to the fire.

“Our county remains fully staffed and able to respond to all emergencies,” Butte County fire officials said on Twitter.

The fire was burning just off Quail Canyon Road and Pleasants Valley Road. Fire officials said that people could evacuate to the 3 Oaks Community Center at 1100 Alamo Drive in Vacaville.

Noah Berger / Associated Press Flames from the Quail Fire, which started in Solano County, consume an outbuilding near Winters (Yolo County).