Updated Wednesday, Aug. 26, 10 p.m. —
As of CalFire’s evening fire update, the Walbridge Fire is 55,353 acres and 19% contained. The Meyers Fire is 2,360 acres and 97% contained.
Fire crews are still working on tying up loose ends along the southern and northwestern edge of the Walbridge Fire, and while some folks have been allowed to return home, some 5,500 residents are still under an evacuation order for zones that are still seeing some fire activity and flare ups.
“As we move forward today on the Walbridge we shrunk up the evacuation orders and moved it in as close as we could around the Walbridge Fire and there are lines and a lot of good work being done over there,” said CalFire Incident Commander, Chief Sean Kavanaugh.
At 54,923 acres with 19% containment, the Walbridge incident is a large fire, and Kavanaugh said the different terrain from grasslands to agriculture land, vineyards, forests and steep slopes has made it difficult for crews.
“That is an extremely large fire and what’s particular about the Walbridge Fire is that there is different topography and different fuels all the way around that thing from the north end to the west end, to the south end and to east end,” he said. “A lot of dozers are being used to punch in lines and we’re being optimistic about trying to get line all the way around it in the next 24 to 48 hours.”
A flare up did occur today on the southwest corner out in the Pool Ridge area that crews are currently working on according to CalFire Chief Ben Nichols.
Total resources for the western zone of the fire include 140 engines, 31 water tenders and hand crews and 31 dozers.
“Crews are working hard to conduct backfiring operations to tie in the fingers and loose ends of this fire,” Nichols said.
Significant backfiring operations are occurring near Mill Creek down to Felta Road and up near Sweetwater Springs. They’re also doing backfiring at the northwestern corner of the fire as well as cutting in lines with dozers near Cazadero.
“There’s still a lot to be done out there on the fire line,” Nichols said.
Nichols added that damage assessment is still ongoing and that they are thoroughly working through the area, especially in the more remote areas, to make sure they get an accurate assessment of the burn zone.
Sonoma County Sheriff Sgt. Juan Valencia said there has been traffic congestion at some of the evacuation reentry points and even though people may be anxious to get home he encouraged folks to check their address on the county evacuation map before returning home.
District 5 Supervisor Lynda Hopkins asked those still under mandatory evacuation orders to stay strong as they wait to return to their residence.
“I want to acknowledge the 5,000 some residents who are still under mandatory evacuation orders. We are asking a lot of you right now, sheltering in place while under a mandatory evacuation order while distance learning with your children, or working virtually, or going to work in the middle of a pandemic. This is a very challenging time for those of you who are still displaced from your homes,” Hopkins said. “Unfortunately, in the days to come, we are going to be asking even more of you because we all know from the prior disaster that the work doesn’t stop when we gain control of the fire. In many ways that’s when the work really begins. Some people have lost homes, some people have lost farms, some people have just lost landscapes that they love, or crops or feed for their livestock.”
She said they have all different government levels of support, but at the end of the day, “we will take better care of each other than the government is going to take care of us.
“I am here to encourage you to help a neighbor. Reach out, call a friend, see what they need, leave some zucchini on someone’s porch, because you know that after a week you’re zucchinis are going to be big and offer to help an elderly neighbor prepare their property for defensible space,” Hopkins said, noting that folks need to help themselves and others to be prepared for the two more months of fire season.
In the coming days the county will establish one-stop shop help centers for recovery and the county will also have a community briefing and meeting tomorrow night via Zoom and Facebook Live at 6:30 p.m.
