Updated Sunday, Aug. 23, 2:20 p.m. —
Map Grid 2F1 downgraded to Warning
East of Dutcher Creek Road and the Dry Creek (the actual creek)
North of Canyon Road
West of Highway 101
Map Grid 2F2 downgraded to Warning
South of Canyon Road
East of the Dry Creek (the actual creek)
North of Lytton Springs Road
West of Geyserville Avenue
Map Grid 2F3 downgraded to Warning
South of Lytton Springs Road
East of the Dry Creek (the actual creek)
North of Westside Road
West of the Healdsburg city limits.
Map Grid 2K1 downgraded to Warning
All areas North and East of Westside Road
West of Highway 101
West of the Russian River
Map Grid 2K2 downgraded to Warning
All areas west of Highway 101
East of the Russian River to the Windsor Town limits
North of where Windsor River Road dead ends extending west to the Russian River.
Map Grid 4A1 downgraded to Warning
All areas East of the Russian River
North of River Road
West of Trenton Healdsburg Road and Eastside Road
South of the area between the western dead end of Windsor River Road and the Russian River
Map Grid 4C1 downgraded to Warning
North of Guerneville Road
East of Covey Road and Highway 116
West of Laguna Road
South of River Road
This means you can now return home at your own risk. These areas are still at risk from the Walbridge Fire. The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office recommends you stay home for the day once you arrive. There’s going to be a lot of traffic in the area so please drive safely; the priority is getting everyone home safely.
Updated Sunday, Aug. 23, 1 p.m. —
While calm winds and moderate conditions made last night’s fire progress slim — the Meyers Fire is at 2,360 with 70% containment and the Walbridge Fire grew only 11 acres over night to 51,072 acres.
In a CalFire press conference Sunday morning, Incident Commander Sean Kavanaugh said that CalFire has a whole team of people working on evacuations and repopulations for the LNU Lightning Complex Fire. The eastern part of the fire (the Hennessey Fire that’s going on in Napa, Solano and Lake counties) has seen some repopulation from folks that were in evacuation centers.
“Despite the increase of resources, we’re definitely far from getting these fires handled. We’re not out of the woods by far,” CalFire Unit Chief Shana Jones said.
For now, he said one of the biggest concerns for CalFire is tracking the weather predicted over the next few days.
“Any lightning that comes through, based on the fact that we have so many resources that are effected and stretched thin throughout California, it will likely start new fires,” Jones said, adding that CalFire does have a plan of attack if new fires occur, but that new fires will result in resources being pulled away from the fires currently being fought.
Updated Sunday, Aug. 23 9:15 a.m. —
According to the latest report from CalFire, the Walbridge Fire is 51,072 acres and is 0% contained. The Meyers Fire north of Jenner is 2,360 acres and is 70% contained.
Updated Saturday, Aug. 22 9 p.m. —
According to the latest report from CalFire, the Walbridge Fire is 51,069 acres and is 0% contained. The Meyers Fire north of Jenner is 2,345 acres and is 0% contained.
Ahead of the storm that’s predicted to take place over the coming days, county and CalFire staff are emphasizing the need for people to be prepared in case winds shift the direction of the Walbridge Fire or in case lightning causes additional fires to start.
As of CalFire’s morning update, the Walbridge Fire is at 50,069 acres. The smaller Meyers Fire is holding at 2,345 acres.
“We’re feeling pretty optimistic about the Meyers Fire and getting that wrapped up,” CalFire Incident Commander Sean Kavanaugh said.
While CalFire teams are still going around and starting to track the number of structures lost or damaged by the fires, Kavanaugh said that thus far in relation to the Meyers Fire they’ve identified three residences and two outbuildings that have been destroyed. As the damage assessment for both fires continues, people will likely see a spike in the number of properties being reported.
“Starting today we’re supposed to have that change in the weather,” Kavanaugh said. “Please adhere to the evacuation orders we’re given … please be ready to have your home, your livestock, whatever you need in order to be able to evacuate in a timely fashion.”
Sonoma County residents are being encouraged to gather items and think about what they would include in their go bag, should additional evacuation warnings or orders be implemented in the coming days (go bag lists from the county can be found here.)
According to Sonoma County Director of Emergency Management Chris Godley, the county currently has 24,810 residents under an evacuation warning and 16,091 residents under evacuation orders. Thirty-two percent of the county’s total landmass geographically has been put under either an evacuation warning or order.
“It’s not just those of you who are on evacuation warnings who need to be prepared,” District 4 Supervisor James Gore said. “It’s pretty much if you’re anywhere here in Sonoma County … you should be making sure you have a plan of where to go, you should have a plan (of what to bring).”
“Even if you do not see the flames in your neighborhood, even if you do not see an immediate threat, there is a reason CalFire is making these decisions,” said District 5 Supervisor Lynda Hopkins.
CalFire Division Chief Ben Nichols said that the fire is roughly three to five miles from the Highway 101 corridor, depending on what point of the fire is being looked at. Based on the half-mile spotting distance they’ve seen from the fire, Nichols said that current fire conditions don’t have him worried about the fire jumping Highway 101.
Kavanaugh noted, however, that increased wind can bring surprises.
“If we get a strong wind push in any direction, it can override sometimes the expectation that we have. It’s key for everybody to have themselves ready for those evacuation orders,” he said.
Should additional fires start as a result of dry lightning, the lack of overall firefighting resources means that teams may not immediately be able to respond to new fires.
“There is very little flexibility because of that shortness of resources,” said Congressman Jared Huffman. “Everyone is stretched terribly thin right now.”
While resources are still strapped, the county has started to see increased help coming from out of the state. Air crews were grounded for the bulk of the day due to an inverted smoke pattern that resulted in low visibility, but crews were given the OK to get back in the air around 4 p.m.
“The one thing when it comes to wildland firefighting is we can do a lot, but we can’t override wind,” Kavanaugh said. “We’re concerned with that — we have to be — and we have to pre-plan.”
