Sunday updates: Santa Rosa expands mandatory evacuation zone

The Shady fire has crossed Highway 12 near Oakmont, which is surrounded on three sides, as homes burn in Skyhawk.|

5:20 a.m.: Santa Rosa expands mandatory evacuation zone

The city of Santa Rosa has issued mandatory evacuation orders for the entirety of the Northeast 2 and Northeast 3/Middle Rincon zones as the Shady fire continues to threaten the eastern part of the city.

Northeast 2 includes all areas east of Brush Creek Road, north of Montecito Boulevard, west of Calistoga road and south of the city boundary north of Badger Road.

Northeast 3/Middle Rincon includes all areas east of Mission Boulevard, north of Highway 12, south of Montecito Boulevard and west of Calistoga Road.

To check to see what evacuation zone you live in, click here.

For a map of current evacuation zones, click here.

Evacuees can go to the following locations:

Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds, 175 Fairgrounds Drive, Petaluma (accepting sheltering in cars and RVs. Not ready for congregant sheltering at this point.)

Petaluma Veterans Building, 1094 Petaluma Blvd. South, Petaluma (Temporary Evacuation Point and shelter)

Sonoma Raceway, 29355 Arnold Drive, Sonoma (Temporary Evacuation Point, car sheltering and camping)

Santa Rosa city officials have opened up a temporary evacuation point at A Place to Play park, 2375 West Third Street in Santa Rosa where residents can regroup and get help from staff who speak English or Spanish.

5:07 a.m. update: Fire crews protect Oakmont as spot fires pose challenge in Skyhawk

The Shady fire continues to spawn small spot fires in Skyhawk, where several homes have burned. Fire crews and at least one resident were moving through the neighborhood, pouncing on new starts as they sprung up.

Most of the damage on Mountain Hawk Drive was between Brigadoon Way and Night Hawk Drive. One house was burning on the north end of Mountain Hawk at Brigadoon about 4:30 a.m. Embers from that fire caused landscaping across the street to ignite, and resident Jas Sihota ran up with a long hose that he used to put out the shrub.

Sihota, who lives on Great Heron Drive, which becomes Mountain Hawk Drive where it crosses Brigadoon, moved through the neighborhood, using hoses to put out small spot fires as they erupted. He extinguished the same shrub on Brigadoon at least twice during a span of about 15 minutes.

Sihota, 49, said he was watching a football game at 8 p.m. before he came outside and “it was raining quarter-sized embers.”

“I stayed here through all the fires,” Sihota said. “But they never got this close.”

4:58 a.m. update:

By 4:30 a.m., a stretch of Highway 12 between Los Alamos Road and Oakmont Drive has transformed into an ember-strewn moonscape. The husks of vanquished trees formed clusters on both sides of the highway.

Homes along the east side of this road that connects Santa Rosa to the wine-rich Sonoma Valley were decimated.

A handful of engines and their determined crew members kept the fire from destroying any structures in the Oakmont Village retirement community, home to some 5,000 senior Santa Rosans.

Flames lapped at fences and landscaping, and they dazzled 100 feet above rooftops as they took apart the mature canopy on the north edge of this secluded community, which has its own grocery store and two golf courses.

Winds swirled but had weakened considerably by 4 a.m., making for a less daunting pace as firefighters bopped from one backyard to another, dousing flames.

A bulldozer line helped, too, chewing up would-be fire fuel and breaking up what could have been a united fire front before it got to the backside of the homes.

3:30 a.m. update: Fire crews protect homes in Piedmont Heights, St. Francis as Shady fire burns homes in east Santa Rosa

Homes in Piedmont Heights, St. Francis and other neighborhoods east of Calistoga Road and north of Highway 12 but west of Skyhawk were largely unscathed by fire as of about 3 a.m. Monday. The hills above them were heavily charred by the Shady fire and backfires set by crews to keep flames away from homes.

“I sure didn’t expect this whole mountain to go up like it did,” said David Cox, 75, who lives on Ronaldo Street and stayed behind to protect his home, which he’s lived in for about three years. He watched the hillside smolder from Montclair Drive and said he was thankful for everything firefighters did to protect homes like his.

3:11 a.m. update:

Evacuation centers are being moved from Santa Rosa to Petaluma “out of an abundance of caution,” according to county spokesman Paul Gullixson. The Santa Rosa Veterans building and the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds are closing as shelters.

Evacuees can go to the following locations:

Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds, 175 Fairgrounds Drive, Petaluma (accepting sheltering in cars and RVs. Not ready for congregant sheltering at this point.)

Petaluma Veteran’s Building, 1094 Petaluma Blvd. South, Petaluma (Temporary Evacuation Point and shelter)

Sonoma Raceway, 29355 Arnold Dr., Sonoma (Temporary Evacuation Point, car sheltering and camping)

Santa Rosa city officials have opened up a temporary evacuation point at A Place to Play park, 2375 West 3rd Street, Santa Rosa

Hundreds of elderly fire evacuees including this bus load from Oakmont waiting for a place to rest at Vets Memorial Auditorium, Santa Rosa, CA (Erick Castro/The Press Democrat)
Hundreds of elderly fire evacuees including this bus load from Oakmont waiting for a place to rest at Vets Memorial Auditorium, Santa Rosa, CA (Erick Castro/The Press Democrat)

2:32 a.m. update: Shady fire surrounds Oakmont, enters Trione-Annadel State Park

By 2:30 a.m. the Shady fire was nearing the senior community of Oakmont, surrounding it on three sides — destroying houses on Melita Road, scorching the ridgeline and creeping down from the east and igniting in Trione-Annadel State Park to the south.

A local battalion chief said they had just a few engines at the ready to protect Oakmont.

“We’re doing the best we can with what we’ve got,” he said.

2:14 a.m. Monday update: Sheriff’s Office expands evacuations

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office has expanded evacuation orders to two areas as homes continue to burn or be threatened along Santa Rosa’s eastern edge.

Residents of these areas are advised to evacuate as quickly as possible. This is in addition to the roughly 10,500 people already under orders to evacuate, according to Sonoma County Spokesman Paul Gullixson.

Those zones include:

Zone 6A2, which is southwest of Highway 12, east and north of Warm Springs Road and northwest of Arnold Drive.

Zone 6B3, which is northeast of Highway 12, southeast of Nuns Canyon Road/Nelligan Road, southwest of the Napa/Sonoma county line and northwest of Trinity Road.

Sheriff’s officials are urging residents to head east toward Sonoma, as Highway 12 westbound is gridlocked.

First responders are going door to door to assist people in these areas.

2 a.m. Monday update: Homes along Sunhawk Drive threatened

The Shady fire is threatening homes along Sunhawk Drive near Mystic Point in Santa Rosa, with a spot fire burning a fence close to one home. Crews stationed in the neighborhood are moving quickly to put out the blaze.

Sonoma County spokesman Paul Gullixson and his family were among the 10,500 residents of Sonoma County ordered to evacuate their homes late Sunday as the Shade fire burned into Santa Rosa’s eastern outskirts.

Joining the throngs of people fleeing their homes, the drive from his Skyhawk neighborhood to the county complex in north Santa Rosa took about 1½ hours, Gullixson said.

He could hear the sound of machinery as he left, possibly dozers cutting fire breaks into the steep hillsides. And he reflected that it appeared that many people appeared to evacuate quickly and without delays. The fire started as a glow, “then suddenly you see these big flames licking the sky.”

“I’ve always looked up in those hills, they’re beautiful, but I always wondered if they were safe,” Gullixson said. “I prayed nothing would ever happen, but nothing is out of bounds anymore. Everything is vulnerable.”

The county opened its emergency operations center about 8:30 p.m. Sunday to coordinate evacuation shelters and other response needs for the fire.

1:43 a.m. Monday update:Shady fire jumps Highway 12 near Oakmont, homes in Skyhawk burning

The Shady fire has crossed Highway 12 near the northern most entrance to Oakmont, according to Santa Rosa police officers in Oakmont.

Dozens of Santa Rosa and Petaluma police officers are gathered at the Berger Community Center to coordinate door-to-door evacuations, beginning about 1:30 a.m. for any residents remaining in Oakmont.

In Santa Rosa, about a half-dozen homes were burning along Mountain Hawk Drive in the Skyhawk neighborhood as fire crews battle house-to-house.

1:32 a.m. Monday update: Sonoma County marshals resources to protect east Santa Rosa

Sonoma County Fire District Chief Mark Heine said “it’s a critical need right now” to get additional firefighting resources to defend eastern Santa Rosa against the Shady fire, which remained wholly uncontrolled early Monday.

As of 1 a.m. Monday, the fire posed the greatest threat to the community of homes along Los Alamos Road between Highway 12 and Hood Mountain and the Skyhawk subdivision.

“We have way more homes to protect than engines to protect them,” Heine said.

Heine said he believes the blaze now forcing the evacuation of thousands in Sonoma County started as a spot fire from the 2,500-acre Glass fire burning on the eastern rim of the Napa Valley.

The Shady fire was first reported about 8 p.m. near Spring Mountain Road west of St. Helena, growing quickly and burning into the St. Helen Road canyon and over the Hood Mountain area.

By 9 p.m. Sunday, Sonoma County fire issued an “all call” asking for all available firefighting resources to join the firefight. Heine said that by 1 a.m., roughly 40 Sonoma County fire engine crews were battling the fire in addition to Cal Fire resources, a strike team from San Francisco and others on the way.

Weather was a critical factor.

The temperature was in the mid 80s with light wind on the valley floor, “but I can tell by the smoke it’s blowing pretty hard at the ridgelines,” Heine said.

“The fire is along the entire length of the ridgeline from Calistoga Road all the way down to Los Guillicos,” Heine said. “We’re dealing with a lot of spot fires, burning embers in the air. The fire is in and around the homes in the Skyhawk area.”

12:58 a.m. Monday update:

At Oakmont Gardens assisted living facility in Oakmont Village, staff are helping about 120 masked residents, some with walkers, board two full-size Santa Rosa CityBuses as the Shady fire has cut a wall of flame along Sugarloaf Ridge to the east.

Oakmont Gardens assisted living residents load onto buses amid Shady Fire evacuations in East Santa Rosa.

Posted by Press Democrat on Monday, September 28, 2020

The sky has turned orange and ash is raining from the sky.

By midnight, flames were visible to the southeast from Highway 12 and Calistoga Road. Traffic was backed up along Highway 12 within the city of Santa Rosa to about Calistoga Road and close to Oakmont Village, but was flowing smoothly in between.

Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Susan Gorin said it took her an hour and a half to evacuate along with other residents near Oakmont. She lost her home almost three years ago in the Nuns fire and said tonight reminded her of that night. She worried for neighbors in the Sonoma Valley and Santa Rosa.

12:46 a.m. Monday update: Evacuation warning expands in Santa Rosa

The City of Santa Rosa has issued an evacuation warning for the zone Northeast 2, meaning residents should prepare to evacuate if conditions worsen.

The area includes all areas east of Brush Creek Road, north of Montecito Boulevard, west of Calistoga Road and south of the city boundary.

If you are uncertain which evacuation zone you fall under, you can view the city’s map here.

For a current map of evacuation zones, click here.

12:27 a.m. Monday update: Fire crews standing guard along Sunhawk Drive

Fire crews have fanned out along the evacuated Sunhawk Drive northeast of Skyhawk in Santa Rosa, ready to protect homes there from the Shady fire as it scorches the long ridgeline that borders eastern Santa Rosa neighborhoods such as Skyhawk, St. Francis and Los Alamos.

With dozens of fire engines deployed, crews with headlamps and flashlights are patrolling backyards and watching for spot fires while bulldozers carve fire breaks into the hillside.

Above the deserted neighborhood, fire perches on the ridgeline, occasionally devouring stands of large trees, illuminating the empty neighborhood and sending out a menacing roar. A huge swath of land to the northeast stands smoldering as fire crews can be seen working well to the north.

Video: Highway 12 and Calistoga Road

Highway 12 and Calistoga Road - Shady Fire

Posted by Press Democrat on Monday, September 28, 2020

12 AM Monday update: Santa Rosa warns three areas to prepare for possible evacuation

The city of Santa Rosa warned residents in three areas of the city to prepare for the possibility of evacuation, if conditions worsen. They include:

Spring Lake

This includes all areas within this perimeter: North of Stonehedge Ave, East of Summerfield Rd, West of Violetti Rd (East side of Spring Lake), South of Highway 12 (Between Mission Blvd and Calistoga Rd), South of Montgomery Rd (between south end of Calistoga Rd to Channel Dr)

Summerfield

This includes all areas within this perimeter: East of Summerfield Rd, South of Stonehedge Dr, North of the City boundary, West of the City’s boundary (Annadel State Park)

Northeast – 3 / Middle Rincon

This includes all areas within this perimeter: East of Mission Blvd, North of Highway 12, South of Montecito Blvd, West of Calistoga Rd

11:45 PM Sunday update: Evacuation points in Santa Rosa

The Sonoma County Fairgrounds, the nearby Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building and the Petaluma Veterans Memorial Building are temporary evacuation points. Authorities are directing evacuees to those areas, where staff will be onsite to provide further guidance.

11:35 PM update: Flames crest ridge above St. Francis neighborhood

Flames could be seen on the ridge overlooking the St. Francis neighborhood in east Santa Rosa, sending embers high into the sky. The red-hot embers pushed down the hillside were igniting multiple spot fires, accelerating its spread toward the city.

At least a half-dozen fire trucks were parked on the north side of Yerba Buena to defend the neighborhood. Many homes were empty, but a number of residents remained to gather their most precious belongings.

Terry Seda, who has lived on Yerba Buena Road since 1998, initially left the neighborhood Sunday night but then returned to get her wedding rings. She was showing her husband, using live video, the somber scene outside their home.

“I was crying earlier, but now it is what it is. I told my husband this is the only mountain left in Sonoma County that hasn’t burned,” she said.

11:25 PM update: Evacuees urged to head south

Highway 12 entering Santa Rosa is clogged with traffic from people evacuating Oakmont. Authorities urged residents to head south on Highway 12 to safety. Oakmont residents can also use emergency vehicle access road from Timber Springs Drive to Channel Drive.

Six areas of the city are now under mandatory evacuation orders:

Calistoga – North

This includes all areas within this perimeter: East of Calistoga Rd, North of Yerba Buena Rd, West of City boundary (east end of Yerba Buena Rd), South of City boundary

Calistoga – South/Skyhawk

This includes all areas within this perimeter: East of Calistoga Rd, North of Highway 12, South of Yerba Buena Rd & City boundary, West of Los Alamos Rd

Melita

This includes all areas within this perimeter: South of Highway 12, East of Calistoga Rd, North of City’s boundary, West of Oakmont Community

Oakmont – North

This includes all areas within this perimeter: South of Highway 12, North of Oakmont Dr (between Highway 12 and Riven Rock Way), East of Stone Bridge Rd, West of City’s boundary

Oakmont – South

This includes all areas within this perimeter: South of Oakmont Dr (between Stone Bridge Rd and Riven Rock Way), West of City’s boundary, East of City’s boundary, North of City’s boundary

Stonebridge:

This includes all areas within this perimeter: South of Highway 12, West of Oakmont Dr,

Pythian:

This includes all incorporated City of Santa Rosa residences and businesses within this perimeter: West of Pythian Rd, North of Highway 12, South of City’s boundary

East of Los Alamos Rd

Includes Valley of the Moon Children’s Center, Juvenile Hall & Juvenile Justice Center

11 PM update: Residents scramble to evacuate ahead of advancing fires

The 5,000-person retirement community of Oakmont in east Santa Rosa is in the crosshairs of wildfire Sunday night, and was ordered evacuated shortly before 11 p.m.

Residents who don’t have vehicles are encouraged to walk to the Berger Center in Oakmont Village, where city staff plan to offer transportation. For some residents, the walk could be upwards of 2 miles. Emergency officials, including the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, have encouraged neighbors to check on neighbors.

Across Highway 12 from Oakmont, Jack Tibbetts, a Santa Rosa City Councilman and executive director with the nonprofit St. Vincent De Paul, worked with staff to evacuate 55 homeless residents from the Los Guilicos Village shelter.

As ash rained down on the camp amid 20 mph winds, staffers grouped residents into a variety of vehicles, and onto HIghway 12, which featured bumper-to-bumper traffic inbound to Santa Rosa, Tibbetts said.

10 PM update: Santa Rosa issues evacuation orders to residents in northeast part of city

For the first time since the Kincade fire in October 2019, a group of Santa Rosa residents has been ordered to evacuate ahead of an advancing wildfire.

The city of Santa Rosa issued evacuation orders about 10 p.m. Sunday for the Shady fire, a fresh blaze that started Sunday night in northwestern Napa County, across the valley from the Glass fire that started about 4 a.m. Sunday.

The city is evacuating residents east of Calistoga Road, from Highway 12 to Hoyer Drive, and portions of the city east of Highway 12, including the Los Guilicos Juvenile Justice Center campus.

Evacuation warnings are also in place for the Oakmont Village senior community, and residents south of Highway 12 from Calistoga Road to nearly Pythian Road.

9:30 PM update: Napa, Sonoma counties extend evacuations as fire spreads

Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office has issued an evacuation order for a large swath of the eastern portion of Sonoma County after two new fires started on the west side of Napa Valley.

The order extends from St. Helena Road all the way to Highway 12, but does not yet include the Skyhawk or Oakmont communities. A Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said the department is responsible only for alerting county residents, and that Santa Rosa was responsible for those communities within city limits.

A Nixle alert from the city of Santa Rosa Fire Department informed residents of the vegetation fire burning northeast of Santa Rosa, and encouraged residents in the Rincon Valley, Skyhawk and Los Alamos areas to review evacuation and preparedness information.

8:45 PM update: Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office issues evacuation order as fire reaches west side of Napa Valley

Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office issued an evacuation order for Sonoma County residents south of St. Helena Road and north of Los Alamos/Cleland Ranch Roads.

The evacuation order was prompted by two new fires on St. Helena Road on the west side of the Napa Valley, according to an alert from the Sheriff’s Office.

“If you are in this area, calmly and quickly evacuate now,” according to the Sheriff’s Office’s Nixle alert. “Check with your neighbors to ensure they know about this order if you have time.”

The Sheriff’s Office also issued evacuation warnings for: residents south of Cleland Ranch Road; west of Los Alamos Road; north and east of the Santa Rosa city limits; east of Calistoga Road; south of Los Alamos Road; west of Santa Rosa city limits and Los Alamos Road; northeast of Highway 12, west of the Napa/Sonoma County line; the easternmost boundary of Hood Mountain Regional Park; and the easternmost boundary of Los Guilicos Juvenile Center.

8:15 PM update: Fire on west side of Napa Valley

Flames could be seen burning on the western side of the Napa Valley above St. Helena late Sunday night.

The fire was burning on the slopes of Spring Mountain, bringing it closer to Sonoma County.

It was not immediately clear if the fire was caused by wind-driven embers from the 2,500-acre Glass fire burning on the eastern rim of the Napa Valley, or if it was an entirely new fire.

Cal Fire did not have details on the fire. Check back for updates.

7 PM update: Glass fire near Silverado trail

Glass fire near Duckhorn Vineyards in Napa Valley.

Glass fire near Silverado Trail by Duckhorn Vineyards in Napa Valley. See latest updates on www.pressdemocrat.com (PD's Bill Swindell)

Posted by Press Democrat on Sunday, September 27, 2020

6.45 PM update: Fire is getting intense. Live report from Glass Mountain road

Glass fire in Napa County view from Glass Mountain Road.

Glass fire in Napa County view from Glass Mountain Road Sunday afternoon. (PD's Bill Swindell) Latest updates at www.pressdemocrat.com

Posted by Press Democrat on Sunday, September 27, 2020

5 PM update: Evacuations or warnings to leave expanded to include 5,000 Napa County residents, as Glass fire expands to 1,500 acres

Now, about 5,000 Napa County residents have been ordered to evacuate or face evacuation warnings due to the Glass fire, an evacuation boundary that extends to the east side of St. Helena, a 6,600-person town in northwestern Napa County.

The orders, issued shortly after 4 p.m. Sunday, come about 12 hours after the Glass fire erupted. It has spread to 1,500 acres, and firefighters have 0% containment, according to the latest information from Cal Fire.

Napa County Office of Emergency Services said 64 wineries sit within the evacuation or evacuation warning areas, along with rural estates and far-flung unincorporated communities.

County emergency management officials say 743 homes and 1,857 people are within the evacuation zone, and another 1,370 homes and 3,425 people are in the larger evacuation warning zone.

The expanded evacuation orders include the east side of Silverado Trail, from Deer Park Road to Meadowood Road — and all roads in between. The Meadowood Resort, a luxury Napa County resort, is located in the evacuation area.

Janet Upton, spokeswoman for the Napa County emergency services office, said the evacuation orders are broad and defensive in nature, coming ahead of nightfall when wind gusts are predicted to possibly reach 55 mph.

“There’s been discussions of relative humidity in elevations in the fire area as low as 0% — and kiln-dried wood is at 9%,” Upton said. “That factor alone, without the winds, would drive dangerous fire behavior.”

4:00 PM update: Although smoky, Sonoma County, Santa Rosa not currently threatened by Glass fire’s flames

The Glass fire, which is threatening some of the world’s preeminent wineries in Napa County, would have to burn through those prized vineyards on the floor of the Napa Valley in order to pose a danger to Sonoma County or Santa Rosa.

Smoke from the blaze burning just 9 miles east of the eastern edge of Santa Rosa, is clearly visible from the city and has contributed to worsening air quality in the region — a key factor in the Bay Area Air Quality Management District’s decision to extend a Spare the Air Warning through Monday.

On Sunday afternoon, the fire was burning in the hills on the eastern rim of the Napa Valley, between St. Helena and Calistoga, just west of Angwin.

These hills are known as the Vaca Range, separating the Napa Valley from the Central Valley. The Mayacamas Mountains form the western boundary, but have not been touched by the Glass fire. The inferno was sparked minutes before 4 a.m. and had grown to 1,200 acres by 1 p.m.

Napa County authorities began issuing mandatory evacuation orders around 4:15 a.m. for residents living in Deer Park, an area of Silverado Trail. At 7 a.m., officials expanded evacuation orders to include residents living on College Avenue at Howell Mountain Road to White Cottage Road and all of Freisen Drive, including all roads west of College Avenue and Freisen Drive, and all of Lommel Road.

Those evacuation orders were expanded at noon to include residents on Silverado Trail from Lommel Road to Pickett Road. The area, between St. Helena and Calistoga off North Silverado Road, is home to dozens of wineries. Among those threatened by flames are Reverie Winery and Davis Estates winery.

Cal Fire spokesman Tyree Zander said the winds have shifted constantly, causing erratic fire behavior. The fire, Zander said, will make runs north and east, then winds will shift, pushing the fire south.

Zander said Cal Fire officials expect winds to pick up early Sunday evening, and into the night.

1 PM update: Fire reaches 1,200 acres as firefighters brace for more high winds Sunday night

Winds are expected to intensify, reaching up to 30 mph Sunday night and into the early Monday morning, and combine with dry conditions to potentially fuel spread of the Glass fire in Napa County.

The fire, which was sparked about 3:50 a.m. Sunday, grew explosively as dawn broke Sunday under critical fire weather conditions that are expected to linger until 9 p.m. Monday.

By noon Sunday, the Glass fire had burned through 1,000 acres of rugged, mountainous west Napa County countryside, and was threatening many isolated, wine country communities.

From the Glass Fire in Napa County, which has burned 800 acres.

Posted by Press Democrat on Sunday, September 27, 2020

National Weather Service meteorologist Anna Schneider said by midday Sunday winds had eased to about 10 mph, coming from the north, northeast. But she expected conditions to reverse as the day goes on, with wind gusts of 20 mph to 30 mph at higher elevations by the evening.

Already, temperatures at noon Sunday hovered in the low 90s in the area of the fire, and about 30 miles to the east in Sonoma County.

Schneider said Monday would feature more of the same weather during the day. By Monday night, winds are expected to settle giving firefighters an advantage and the 2,000 residents evacuated Sunday morning a sense of relief.

11:40 AM update: Napa County emergency officials ‘very concerned’ as fire rages to nearly 1,000 acres

About 2,000 people have been evacuated, including 50 patients at Adventist Health St. Helena hospital in Deer Park, ahead of the advancing Glass fire, which roared to life before sunrise Sunday and had grown to nearly 1,000 acres.

The evacuations cover 660 Napa County homes, according to the county’s Office of Emergency Services, as well as the hospital, and prompted the county to open an evacuation shelter at Crosswalk Community Church, 2590 First Street in Napa.

A 48-hour red flag warning, that started at 9 p.m. Saturday and expected to last until 9 p.m. Monday, was the basis for the hospital evacuation and extensive residential evacuations by 14 Napa County Sheriff’s deputies. They used high-low sirens and went door-to-door to spread the word early Sunday morning.

“We are very concerned tonight about red flag conditions,” said Janet Upton, spokeswoman for the Napa County Office of Emergency Services, pointing to the isolated nature of the communities and their narrow, winding mountain roads.

11:00 AM update: Silverado Trail wineries spared so far

The Glass fire appears to be moving north and has not crossed over the Silverado Trail where many premier Napa Valley wineries are located, according to Cal fire.

The blaze has remained to the east of the trail, but threatening nearby wineries such as Rombauer Vineyards and the Davis Estate, where an air tanker Sunday morning dropped fire retardant behind the hills of the property.

The fire, which started at 3:50 a.m. near the 200 block of North Fork Crystal Springs Road, is heading toward the town of Angwin, Cal fire spokesman Erick Hernandez said. “We keep having wind shifts,” Hernandez said.

Adventist Health St. Helena hospital in Deer Park was placed under a mandatory evacuation as a result of the blaze, he said.

Napa County has opened an evacuation center at Crosswalk Community Church at 2590 First Street, Napa. Anyone going there should bring a facial covering and adhere to prudent social distancing.

9:30 AM update: Glass fire quickly expands to 800 acres near Calistoga

A wildfire that erupted early Sunday had grown to at least 800 acres between Calistoga and Angwin in Napa County, Cal Fire reported, as local authorities issued evacuation orders for residents in the Deer Park area north of St. Helena.

The Napa County Sheriff’s Office called for a mandatory evacuation for residents living along Crystal Springs Road and North Fork Crystal Springs, an area with some nearby wineries and vineyards backed up against the Vaca Range.

Angwin residents were under an evacuation warning.

Photos on social media showed at least one structure that had burned and people noting that they had to quickly leave in the dark. Cal Fire has named the blaze the Glass fire.

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office posted a statement that “heavy drift smoke and light ash” were coming into the county from the Glass fire but there was no current threat to its residents. The North Bay area is under a red flag warning through 9 p.m. Monday, with triple-digit heat, dry, offshore winds and low humidity that can fuel extreme fire behavior.

“Additional firefighting resources from across the region is on the way. Air attack will be starting soon,” state Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) wrote on Twitter. “The fire is fast moving, dangerous and nearing 1,000 acres.”

This is a developing story. Check back later.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 707-521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.

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