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California’s governor declared a statewide emergency on Sunday as wind-fueled fires spread across Sonoma County and prompted mass evacuations.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) pledged to deploy “every resource available” as authorities fought blazes on both ends of the state and weather conditions threatened to exacerbate fire threats.
In Sonoma, one of the largest evacuations in the county’s history was underway as ferocious winds and dry air fueled a wildfire that has raged in the region for days.The county sheriff’s office estimated that 180,000 people had been ordered to flee the Kincade Fire, which has spread to 30,000 acres and was only 10 percent contained. Officials rapidly expanded the number of areas under mandatory evacuation orders in the early hours of the morning as gusts as high as 93 mphswept through the hills and valleys north of the San Francisco Bay area.
In a flurry of early morning alerts, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office told residents in the northern portion of Santa Rosa, as well as areas southwest and northeast of the city, to evacuate immediately.
By Sunday morning, firefighters remained in a “defensive position against Mother Nature,” said Cal Fire spokesman Jonathan Cox. But evacuations proceeded smoothly, officials said, with few road incidents on the packed highway that served as evacuees’ main thoroughfare to safety.
The overnight winds had pushed the Kincade Fire south into some nearby communities, said Cal Fire analyst Steve Volmer, and of utmost concern were new fires in the area that could spring up as a result of the weather.
Volmer said authorities were concerned that the fire could travel west of the 101 highway, an area that had not burned for decades and, therefore, contained “extremely dense” and dry fuels for a raging fire to feast upon. Highway officials closed the 101 near Windsor and Healdsburg because of poor visibility.
The new orders dramatically expand the number of residents who will have to flee the growing fires and could further tax emergency workers tasked with helping them seek safety. Roughly 175,000 people live in Santa Rosa.
In Sonoma County, heavy winds kicked up leaves and knocked down branches. Smartphones buzzed with emergency evacuation alerts in English and Spanish. Roads were congested as residents packed up their cars and RVs to head out of the county. Traffic lights at several intersections lost power, further slowing evacuation efforts. A caravan of cars made their way southbound on the 101 freeway on Sunday morning as residents heeded the warning.
Carol and David Pajala had fled Santa Rosa with their golden retriever after the predawn alert came through. They had found shelter at a fairground in Petaluma, a city about 17 miles south, which authorities had established for displaced residents.
“This is apocalyptic,” Carol Pajala, 67, said of the massive evacuation effort.
At a shelter at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, in Santa Rosa, members of the Red Cross and volunteers served up a breakfast of bagels and other dry items. Evacuees listened to the radio, while the sounds of birds chirping and dogs barking filled the air.
Pam Tryph and her partner said they evacuated their Forestville home Saturday night, with a dog and two cats in tow. They had started to prepare for a possible evacuation after they watched the fires the night before, which “looked like lava coming over the crest of the hill,” Tryph said.
They had time to pack papers, passports, instruments, paintings and sentimental items, such as a needlepoint passed down to Tryph from her great-great-grandmother and a mask that Tryph’s daughter had made in the seventh grade.
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) pledged to deploy “every resource available” as authorities fought blazes on both ends of the state and weather conditions threatened to exacerbate fire threats.
In Sonoma, one of the largest evacuations in the county’s history was underway as ferocious winds and dry air fueled a wildfire that has raged in the region for days.The county sheriff’s office estimated that 180,000 people had been ordered to flee the Kincade Fire, which has spread to 30,000 acres and was only 10 percent contained. Officials rapidly expanded the number of areas under mandatory evacuation orders in the early hours of the morning as gusts as high as 93 mphswept through the hills and valleys north of the San Francisco Bay area.
In a flurry of early morning alerts, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office told residents in the northern portion of Santa Rosa, as well as areas southwest and northeast of the city, to evacuate immediately.
By Sunday morning, firefighters remained in a “defensive position against Mother Nature,” said Cal Fire spokesman Jonathan Cox. But evacuations proceeded smoothly, officials said, with few road incidents on the packed highway that served as evacuees’ main thoroughfare to safety.
The overnight winds had pushed the Kincade Fire south into some nearby communities, said Cal Fire analyst Steve Volmer, and of utmost concern were new fires in the area that could spring up as a result of the weather.
Volmer said authorities were concerned that the fire could travel west of the 101 highway, an area that had not burned for decades and, therefore, contained “extremely dense” and dry fuels for a raging fire to feast upon. Highway officials closed the 101 near Windsor and Healdsburg because of poor visibility.
The new orders dramatically expand the number of residents who will have to flee the growing fires and could further tax emergency workers tasked with helping them seek safety. Roughly 175,000 people live in Santa Rosa.
In Sonoma County, heavy winds kicked up leaves and knocked down branches. Smartphones buzzed with emergency evacuation alerts in English and Spanish. Roads were congested as residents packed up their cars and RVs to head out of the county. Traffic lights at several intersections lost power, further slowing evacuation efforts. A caravan of cars made their way southbound on the 101 freeway on Sunday morning as residents heeded the warning.
Carol and David Pajala had fled Santa Rosa with their golden retriever after the predawn alert came through. They had found shelter at a fairground in Petaluma, a city about 17 miles south, which authorities had established for displaced residents.
“This is apocalyptic,” Carol Pajala, 67, said of the massive evacuation effort.
At a shelter at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, in Santa Rosa, members of the Red Cross and volunteers served up a breakfast of bagels and other dry items. Evacuees listened to the radio, while the sounds of birds chirping and dogs barking filled the air.
Pam Tryph and her partner said they evacuated their Forestville home Saturday night, with a dog and two cats in tow. They had started to prepare for a possible evacuation after they watched the fires the night before, which “looked like lava coming over the crest of the hill,” Tryph said.
They had time to pack papers, passports, instruments, paintings and sentimental items, such as a needlepoint passed down to Tryph from her great-great-grandmother and a mask that Tryph’s daughter had made in the seventh grade.