Healdsburg Issues Fire Evacuation Advisory

HEALDSBURG, CA — Certain areas of Healdsburg were advised Wednesday afternoon to be ready to evacuate from the Sonoma County wildfires should the need arise. City officials in an alert just before 1 p.m. said residents on Fitch Mountain (east of the golf course and Revel Road), Rivers Bend and Bailache Avenue (from Rio Lindo to Healdsburg and all spur roads) should pack a bag and locate their pets.

"Currently, there are two fires that we are monitoring: the Pocket Fire in the hills above Geyserville and the Tubbs Fire to the southeast," city officials said. "Neither of these fires currently threaten Healdsburg. However, as a precautionary measure, we are alerting residents in these areas to prepare in the event of a change of fire activity that causes us to call for a mandatory evacuation."

Watch: Bad Weather Conditions Threaten California Wildfire Efforts

A red flag warning went into effect Wednesday for much of Northern California.

Healdsburg city officials say the weather forecast calls for two wind events Wednesday afternoon and evening that may shift the direction of the fires.

>> RELATED: Sonoma County Fires: More Deaths Confirmed, More Residents Told To Evacuate

"We are expecting afternoon winds from the N/NE to gust 10-20 miles per hour, and N/NE evening winds to gust 20-40 miles per hour," city officials said. "We don’t anticipate these winds to be as strong as the winds that spread the fires into Santa Rosa."

The evacuation shelter at 1557 Healdsburg Ave. remained open Wednesday.

Wednesday evening, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office advised Rio Lindo Academy, a private boarding school in Healdsburg, to prepare for a potential evacuation in advance of an actual evacuation. The school and its surrounding residences were not under immediate threat as of 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, sheriff's officials said; the advisory notice was being given ahead of a time "as opposed to a normal residential property due to the logistical difficulties of moving the populace through difficult roadways in a potential emergency situation."

"... No other residents of the area should be unnecessarily alarmed at this time," sheriff's officials said of the notice for Rio Lindo Academy.

All Sonoma County residents are encouraged to sign up for SoCo Alert for possible emergency evacuations.

Photo: A command center has been set up at the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds. (Photo contributed by Al Francis/Napasonomaphotos.com)