NORTH COAST, Calif. – Thanks to a reduction in winds in the fire area, firefighters succeeded in improving containment on the Kincade fire on Monday, but concerns about its potential movement into southern Lake County resulted in an expanded evacuation warning for that area.
Cal Fire said that the Kincade fire grew by another 8,000 acres during the day on Monday, reaching a total of 74,324 acres.
At the same time, containment tripled to 15 percent, with Cal Fire continuing to estimate full containment by Nov. 7.
Ongoing damage assessments confirmed that 123 structures – 57 residences, five commercial and 61 other types – have been destroyed in Sonoma County. Cal Fire said an additional 20 structures have been damaged, including 12 homes, one commercial building and seven other structures.
Cal Fire said the Kincade fire continues to threaten approximately 90,015 structures – more than 80,400 of them homes – across Sonoma County.
Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said the improved conditions on Monday allowed officials to reduce evacuation orders to warnings for much of western Sonoma County.
However, at the same time the fire’s behavior led authorities to expand the evacuation warning in southwestern Lake County, specifically for all residents in the Middletown area south of Butts Canyon Road and Highway 175 to the Napa/Sonoma County lines, including Middletown proper, the Middletown Rancheria, Dry Creek area, all roads off Highway 175 between Middletown and McKinley Drive as well as all of Butts Canyon Road including side streets.
The Cobb Mountain area also remains under that evacuation order, issued Friday, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said.
Cal Fire Division Chief Jonathan Cox said during a Monday evening briefing that those evacuation warnings for south Lake County were triggered by fire behavior.
He said a lot of effort is being focused on the fire’s eastern flank in order to protect Lake County and its residents from the potential spread of the fire.
Fire Chief Mike Blankenheim, the incident commander for Cal Fire, said overall the Kincade fire didn’t make a big run on Monday, with little wind but conditions remaining dry.
He said the fire burned very actively throughout the afternoon in the Mount St. Helena area, and that’s where they focused air tankers, the very large air tanker and helicopters.
Blankenheim said they are doing everything they can to stop the fire from running into Lake County, and working on robust contingencies for Lake County and Calistoga in Napa County if the fire should reach those areas.
The fire ran into the Shiloh Ridge area near Windsor on Sunday, and Blankenheim said firefighters went direct and worked hard on that part of the fire on Monday.
Now, they are getting ready for another wind event expected to arrive on Tuesday, which has led to Pacific Gas and Electric to say it is planning another possible public safety power shutoff, as many customers impacted by the current shutoff still don’t have power restored.
Ryan Walburn of the National Weather Service said there were better conditions on Monday with less wind. However, a new red flag warning is expected to go into effect at 8 a.m. Tuesday and continuing until 4 p.m. Wednesday.
He said on Tuesday there will be a gradual ramp up, with winds of 10 to 20 miles per hour with gusts of up to 30 miles per hour from the northeast.
Those northeast winds are expected to come in off of Mount St. Helena and Cobb Mountain and move across the fire area, Walburn said.
In the afternoon, the warmest and driest period of the day, Walburn said to expect 30 to 40 miles per hour winds, with gusts in the 50-mile-per-hour range, also out of the northeast, which will push the fire back into its footprint.
The most critical period will be on Tuesday night, when winds are expected to peak through midnight before easing on Wednesday, he said.
While it’s not on the magnitude of the weekend wind event, Walburn urged people not to downplay the incoming weather system, as it is still significant.
Walburn added that they don’t see any upcoming wind events in the forecast.
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