Seven full days of fires devastate Sonoma Valley

Bowed, but not broken – Valley residents begin taking stock|

At 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 16, the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office lifted some evacuation orders in Sonoma County and the Valley, allowing many residents to return to their homes in Kenwood, Boyes Hot Springs and the City of Sonoma that had previously been under mandatory or advisory evacuation status.

But the fires that have raged through the Wine Country in the past week continue to threaten landscapes and residences, and smoky air endangers the health of residents across a wide area.

Statistics for what Cal Fire is calling the Central LNU Complex – which includes the Tubbs Fire (Santa Rosa area), Nuns Fire (Sonoma region), Pocket Fire (Geyserville) and the Oakmont Fire – show a total of almost 98,000 acres burned, almost half of that – 48,627 – in the Nuns Fire in Sonoma, Glen Ellen and Mt. Veeder in both Sonoma and Napa counties.

On Monday fires were progressing to the north at a moderate rate, being driven by steep slopes and dry fuel, according to the latest incident update from Cal Fire. This includes the northwest edge of the Nuns Fire – which ravaged Glen Ellen on the morning of Oct. 9, and has since spread its perimeter to include the former Adobe, Norrbom, Pressley and Partrick fires to the southeast.

While the Nuns fire is listed as 50 percent contained, full containment on all the regional fires is not expected until Friday, Oct. 20. But even within the perimeter, fires continue to smolder, and mild winds can jump embers out of the perimeter and start new fires, said Capt. Carlos Munoz of Chico on Monday morning.

“Our primary objective in setting fire lines is lives, property and the environment, in that order,” said Munoz. He added that areas of “economic drivers” were also taken into consideration in protecting property that might have a substantial role in a community’s economic health.

A specific breakdown by region of structures damaged or destroyed by the fire is difficult to ascertain. Cumulative totals for the Central LNU Complex showed 3,947 structures destroyed, 159 damaged as of 7 a.m. Monday, but a breakout out of those numbers by region is currently not available. A significant number of those are within the City of Santa Rosa, which suffered heavy damage in the early hours of Monday, Oct. 9, in the Fountaingrove and Coffey Park neighborhoods.

Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey said that more than 2,800 structures, including homes and businesses, had been destroyed in the city, leaving roughly 1,200 structures outside of the city limits demolished by fire.

In the Valley, the areas of greatest structure loss seem to be in and around Glen Ellen: about a dozen on Sylvia Drive, between Highway 12 and Dunbar Road; and at least that many along Warm Springs and Henno roads west of the town center. All of these were lost the first morning of the fire, Monday, Oct. 9.

On Saturday, Oct. 14, fires returned to habitable portions of the Valley and took homes on Castle Road and Seventh Street East. At least one house and three structures were lost on Castle Road to the east of Sonoma, and although the historic Buena Vista Winery escaped, news reports said that it had sustained some fire damage.

The greatest fire activity is currently in and around Hood Mountain Regional Park and Sugarloaf Ridge State Park, areas that had escaped the earlier ravages of the Nuns Fire.

On Monday, Oct. 16, Gloria Sandoval, deputy director of Public Affairs for California State Parks, reported that Sugarloaf Ridge continues to burn, and six employee residences, campgrounds and the visitor center are at risk. Some of the telescopes from the Robert Ferguson Observatory, or part of them, have been removed and other items of value from the park.

“On Wednesday, the mirror for the 40-inch and the entire 20-inch telescopes were taken out, both irresplaceable items,” said Roney. “If we get back up there, we might take out the eight-inch, but that’s heavier and not as valuable.”

Trione-Annandel State Park in Santa Rosa also continued to burn on Monday, but no damage to structures had been reported. Defensible space had been cleared around the structures to prevent the fires from spreading.

Although Jack London State Historic Park in Glen Ellen has so far escaped fire damage, items of significant cultural value were moved to a safe location, and the Jack London Home was protected with the fire protection gelling agent Thermo-Gel.

Likewise, the Vallejo Home in the City of Sonoma – part of the Sonoma State Historic Park – was also protected with Thermo-Gel, and items of significant cultural value were moved to a safe location. Brush and other vegetation around the Vallejo Home and Mission San Francisco Solano on Spain Street were cleared to create defensible space.

On the other side of the Valley, across Highway 12, the Oakmont Fire is also very active and “is progressing in a northerly direction with moderate rate of spread,” according to fire authorities. That combined Oakmont/Kenwood fire currently involves 875 acres and is at 15 percent containment, as of midday Monday.

Other regional fires include the Pocket Fire (11,889 acres, 40 percent contained) and the Tubbs Fire (36,390 acres, at 70 percent containment). Both of those fires continue to move toward the north, into Napa County.

Though the October fires in Sonoma and Napa were devastating in terms of acreage, structures lost and commercial damage, the August 2016 fires in Lake County encompassed a larger area – more than 170,000 acres were burned and 1,300 homes destroyed.

At the time, that fire was ranked the third-most destructive blaze in state history; on Saturday, Gov. Jerry Brown said of the current conflagration, “This is truly one of the greatest, if not the greatest, tragedy that California has ever faced.

“It’s a horror that no one could have imagined.”

Contact Christian at christian.kallen@sonomanews.com.

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