Gusty Winds Threaten 'Treacherous' Glass Fire Effort

Oct 3, 2020

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Doug and Susie Van Horn, from Kelseyville, watch as the Glass Fire burns a ridge north of Calistoga on Sept. 30, 2020. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

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Heavy winds are returning to the North Bay Saturday evening, prompting the emergency officials to renew a red flag warning for the area. It remains in effect through Sunday morning.

"Today's clearing smoke allowed for very hot, dry conditions to develop in (the North Bay)," the National Weather Service Bay Area wrote on Twitter, late Saturday afternoon. "Gusty northwest winds returned with the sharp temperate gradient."

Strong winds can increase oxygen supplies for wildfires, helping them burn quicker, spread embers, and also dry out fuel like brush, creating the conditions for a stronger blaze. Saturday evening's winds are expected to approach from the northwest at 15-25 miles-per-hour, with 25-35 mile-per-hour gusts, according to the National Weather Service.

The dire warning arrives as the state is poised to reach a grim milestone: 4 million acres burned this year by wildfires — an area larger than the state of Connecticut. As of Saturday morning, California is only about 20,000 acres from reaching the unprecedented figure, fire officials said.

At a community update on Facebook live on Saturday afternoon, Napa County Fire Chief Geoff Belyea said this fire is particularly difficult.

"Crews are still making progress, the terrain there as many of the locals know is very treacherous and it’s been slow going because of that terrain, but they continue to make progress," he said.

Battling winds, high temperatures and intensely dry conditions, firefighters in the North Bay's wine country worked through the night Friday to slow the spread of the Glass Fire.

By Saturday afternoon, the blaze had charred 62,360 acres in Napa and Sonoma counties, Cal Fire said. The fire is 10% contained and as of Saturday morning, 28,835 structures were still threatened.

Above-average temperatures at higher elevations, along with low humidity and huge buildups of downed trees and dried vegetation, hindered any major containment gains during the week as more than 2,500 firefighters battled the blaze in alternating 24-hour shifts.

The firefight intensified in the east, in the hills above the Napa Valley, where flames continued to pose a major threat to several communities.

By Friday morning, the fire was hovering on the outskirts of Calistoga. Fire crews scrambled to stave off the flames, blocking them from crossing Highway 29 in the Palisades mountain range north of the city.

"Due to the topography and so forth it’s been very difficult for us to place good direct control lines in there," Brunton said. "So we’ve had to go structure by structure prepping those structures and preparing and extinguishing fires as we can in that area."

More crews and equipment were deployed in and around the town of 5,300 people, known for its hot springs, mud baths and wineries.

All of Calistoga and the surrounding area remained under mandatory evacuation orders Friday, where a hazardous layer of smoke continued to shroud the sky, preventing air tankers from attacking the fire from above.

"This our second time being evacuated as an entire city. First time was in 2017 for the Tubbs Fire, and that was the first time in our history since 1863," said Calistoga Mayor Chris Canning. "We're tired of it."

Regardless of where people stand on the root causes of the fires, he said, there's no denying that conditions in the region have changed dramatically.

"There is something different, there is something odd, there is something wrong, and it's year after year after year," he said.

Crews on Friday were also working to establish control lines above the community of Oakville and beefed up efforts to protect the hillside community of Angwin, where clearer skies have allowed helicopters to drop retardant, Brunton said.

Additionally, crews have been sent to the Highway 29 corridor on the floor of the Napa Valley, where anticipated wind gusts from the north could blow embers onto dry vegetation.

The Glass Fire, which erupted during a high-wind event on Sunday, has destroyed more than 400 homes and commercial buildings across both counties and continued to threaten more than 28,800 others. No deaths or major injuries have been reported so far.

Fire and public safety officials warned that more evacuations are possible, and asked residents to remain vigilant, stay out of evacuation zones and stop demanding that officers let them back into off-limit neighborhoods.

The National Weather Service's red flag warning of gusts of up to 30 mph and hot, dry air, was in effect through early Saturday morning for the North Bay mountains. It also covers the East Bay Hills and Diablo Range, the Santa Cruz mountains and Los Padres National Forest, where the Dolan Fire is burning.

If firefighters can keep the flames at bay through the wind event, there's a good chance they'll be able to make steady progress containing the fire next week, said Cal Fire Incident Commander Billy See.

The Glass Fire is one of 23 wildfires currently burning across California, and among the more than 8,200 that have burned this year.

California wildfires have already killed 30 people and incinerated hundreds of homes in what is already the worst fire season on record. Virtually all the damage has been done since mid-August, when five of the six largest fires in state history erupted after a major a series of lightning strikes.