SONOMA COUNTY, CA — With humidity in the single digits and winds gusting to 76 mph, officials in Sonoma County are concerned things could get substantially worse with the Kincade Fire. More than 54,000 acres have already burned in the blaze, which as of Sunday evening was only 5 percent contained.
At least 94 homes and other structures have been destroyed by the inferno, with 79,575 structures still threatened, according to Cal Fire. The agency said two firefighters were burned in the blaze: One was flown to a burn center while the other was being treated at a local hospital.
At a Sunday news conference, officials warned that while winds could die down and humidity could rise through Monday, conditions are expected to worsen again Tuesday into Wednesday. On Sunday morning, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a statewide emergency.
“We are deploying every resource available, and are coordinating with numerous agencies as we continue to respond to these fires,” Newsom said in a statement. “It is critical that people in evacuation zones heed the warnings from officials and first responders, and have the local and state resources they need as we fight these fires.”
Officials say a chief concern is winds could drive the fire to jump U.S 101 into an area that has not burned since the 1940s. That means there is plenty of growth to fuel the fire.
Residents of that area should have an evacuation plan in place covering documents, medications, pets and more.
The Alameda County Fairgrounds Sunday is accepting animals of all sizes, Sonoma County officials said. As of 11:45 a.m. Sunday the fairgrounds at 4501 Pleasanton Ave. in Pleasanton was accepting animals but no evacuees.
Officials say there are hundreds of peace officers and thousands of firefighters battling the fire.
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The amount of smoke from the fire has caused major problems for the 101, which was shut and reopened several times on Sunday because of visibility issues and fire concerns.
Officials said a major responsibility of the peace officers is to guard the properties from where more than 180,000 people have been evacuated, including the entire cities of Healdsburg and Windsor, and a large swath of north Santa Rosa.
There have been no reports of looting.
“Please leave soon if you haven’t already,” a Nixle alert from the city of Healdsburg said Saturday.
The fire Sunday evening was approaching the town of Windsor, fire officials said. There were no immediate reports Sunday of structure loss in Healdsburg. Both cities have been evacuated since Saturday, with National Guard troops assigned to the communities.
Those not able to physically evacuate due to medical conditions are being asked to call the sheriff’s office at 911. Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said officials are encouraging residents to help their neighbors who may not be able to evacuate due to disabilities.
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Anyone with general questions about the evacuation can call 211.
Officials also urged residents to not wait until the last minute to evacuate.
The Healdsburg evacuation center is being closed. The city said in a Nixle alert the following evacuation centers are open, however, the City of Petaluma said Sunday morning that it has reached capacity at all of its evacuation centers. Petaluma is not accepting any more people at its evacuation centers.
Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building — 1351 Maple Ave., Santa Rosa
Petaluma Fairgrounds — 175 Fairgrounds Drive, Petaluma
Petaluma Veterans Memorial Building — 1094 Petaluma Blvd. South., Petaluma
Large animals can be evacuated to the Sonoma County fairgrounds at 1350 Bennett Valley Road in Santa Rosa.
Buses are also being staged to take residents to the evacuation centers.
Residents can sign up to get email alerts from CalFire about the latest on the Kincade Fire.
Interactive evacuation zone maps:
Sonoma CountyNapa County