I believe Forestville is being evacuated. Best of luck to Brian and all in the area.
Patrols on Westside Road making sure people are leaving, but not everyone is.
A friend working in Dry Creek Valley had to go through a checkpoint coming from Santa Rosa to get to work this morning. Looks like they might evacuate tomorrow.
Everyone I know in Rio Nido and Guerneville is out of there.
Out in St Helena we saw the high-altitude smoke from this fire come in in the early afternoon. Whole area is hazy now.
Stay safe Brian.
Still here! Another night up til 1:30 am watching the horizon. Still dark outside but no orange glow, no flames visible from Forestville at this time. Looks like the massive air attack yesterday afternoon/evening made a difference in the fires progress to the South. Word is that the flames made it down into Armstrong Woods but redwood trees are a natural firebreak so hoping that grand site is spared. Bullfrog pond area not so lucky.
The entire lower Russian River is under mandatory evacuation from Martinelli Rd in Forestville all the way to the Coast. Santa Rosa transit busses were seen moving into the area to help remove ambulatory/elderly/homeless people without transportation.
Healdsburg is on the watch list but as of now are out of harms way.
Temps dropped down last night, our natural air conditioning is back! It’s 57° outside now with 59% humidity compared to barely dropping below 70° and above 25% humidity overnight for the past 10 days. Welcomed sight.
The press briefing isn’t until 9:30 am so nothing concrete until then.
Walbridge fire started out yesterday at 1,500 acres and blew up to 14,000 acres.
Meyers fire started at 20 acres and is now at 2,500 acres
A new fire broke out yesterday near Lake Sonoma And is being monitored.
From Sonoma County and CalFire:
Meyers fire being held West of Meyers Grade and South of Fort Ross Rd, 3k acres 0% containment.
Walbridge Fire holding at Sweetwater Springs Rd to the South, increasing to the East moving in a SSE direction and still posing a threat on the Russian River area, Mill Creek and Westside Rd towards Healdsburg which was put on evacuation warning last night, West Dry Creek west of Las Lomas. Last night the winds shifted East and blew the fire 1/2 way down Mill Creek Rd to within a mile or two of Mill Creek Winery/Madrona Manor which prompted the Healdsburg Evacuation warning. 14,500 ares.
Stewarts fire being allowed to burn south and merge into Walbridge so they have a single fire line to work rather than multiple lines, has Lake Sonoma to it’s East acting as a buffer.
Bringing in more teams from surrounding areas including a task force from Alameda more Type 1 strike teams and also type 2 strike teams. 10 bulldozers, 40 engines and 1 air attack team is all they have right now which is very limited considering the size of the fire. All evacuation orders and road closures remain in effect.
0% containment on the entire complex.
CalFire is considering this a major priority at this time as it is moving in on our 2 main water supplies. Multiple pumping stations along the Russian River near Wohler Bridge and Lake Sonoma proper which supply the majority of water for Sonoma and Marin Counties.
What a terrible mess, please stay safe! Reading the updates amidst the drift of ash down here in San Francisco. I was so happy to wake up to morning fog and cold wet winds from the Ocean. I hope the teams can get the fires under control before the hotter winds from the east start up.
Glad to see you’re hanging in there, Brian.
Flightaware and ATC Live indicate that Tanker 944 (747 super tanker) has arrived from San Bernardino and is departing for this fire as I write this message. Tanker 912 (DC-10 super tanker) has already been assigned to this fire (making a flyover now) so 2 super tankers plus the S2s, the BAE-146s and the MD series jets cycling in from Sonoma and McClellan. Clearly this fire is a priority right now for CDF.
Tanker 911 (DC-10 super tanker) is arriving on scene right now as well, direct from Colorado Springs. A P-3 from San Bernardino has also just arrived at McClellan and will be headed to this fire shortly along with a 737 that belongs to Coulson Air out of Vancouver BC. Right now I can see 8 helicopters, 3 super tankers and 10 other medium to large aircraft assigned to this fire. Not sure how they prioritize resources, but this fire is getting a LOT of attention.
Darren what site are you looking at? I see 911 and 912 on flightradar24 (though 911 is leaving), and a couple other planes, but not much else.
I can see the fire planes taking off from MaClellan from my backyard, and it’s been a constant cycle of aircraft every 10-15 minutes. The C-130s have been especially busy today it seems.
See post 48
This fire is getting a lot of attention because:
A) It’s moving in on our water supply. Multiple pumping stations near the Wohler Bridge in Forestville and Lake Sonoma in H’bg which are the source of the majority of water consumed in Marin and Sonoma Counties.
B) It’s moving in on our water supply. Multiple pumping stations near the Wohler Bridge in Forestville and Lake Sonoma in H’bg which are the source of the majority of water consumed in Marin and Sonoma Counties.
C) It’s threatening 16,000 people and another 35,000 just beyond that. But mostly A and B.
The evening press conference is still underway but the entire fire complex which includes the Napa/Solano side has nearly doubled in size over the past 24hrs from 131,000 ares to over 250,000 acres. The majority of the resources are on the Eastern edge of the fire as it drops down into the Westside Rd and West Dry Creek area. Structure protection is a priority.
A question was asked about the protection of Armstrong Woods State Park in Guerneville. They said they are not allocating resources to that area and the fire is continuing to burn down the hill from Bullfrog Pond into the park. They will protect structures if they are threatened but otherwise nothing. That’s sad. Fu¢k the structures, bathrooms and a visitor center can be rebuilt. Some of the trees there are thousands of years old and it is a treasured part of West County
But, on the plus side, redwood trees can take a LOT of heat and flame and come out on the other side. There’s a reason they are so old. Their bark is very thick and they are amazingly resilient.
Brian, thanks for the update. You all stay safe out there. #2020sucks
Mt Jackson fire cam shows fire directly underneath it.
http://www.alertwildfire.org/northbay/?camera=Axis-Jackson
Fire trucks can be seen below trying to save it. This site carries a ton of west county comms equipment and cell sites.
You can see the fire crew laying hoses on the other Mt Jackson west cam.
Yeah, I realize that, and I’m hoping the redwoods serve as a good buffer for the populated areas. I just hate seeing this particular site being at the forefront.
They were discussing the communication equipment at both Mt Jackson and Meyers Grade because concerns about some river residents not receiving their nixle alerts. They said those two site are the major repeater locations for West County Emergency communications and are both under siege from the fires. They re working hard to prevent and/or repair damage to power lines feeding those sites.