Kincade Fire: Containment Up; Thousands Return Home

UPDATED, 7:25 p.m. Oct. 30: SONOMA COUNTY, CA — "The resilience of Sonoma County is amazing," said Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick in an evening briefing about the Kincade Fire. "It's been a very exhausting and very scary event for many of us in this county but we've made it through this together."

Essick's remarks followed the good news Wednesday afternoon that mandatory evacuation orders were downgraded to evacuation advisories for tens of thousands of residents, allowing evacuees to return home at their own risk to densely populated areas including the city of Healdsburg, the town of Windsor and the city of Santa Rosa.

Wednesday evening, there were still 5,788 people under mandatory evacuation orders— down from 185,000 earlier in the week when the wildfire ballooned in size, spurred by historic, red-flag winds.

More good news came when Cal Fire officials announced the fire was 45-percent contained by early Wednesday evening. High winds forecast for the area Wednesday did not materialize, with the size of the fire still at 76,825 acres, according to Cal Fire.

Sadly, total structures destroyed now number 266, with 133 of those homes. Another 47 residential structures have been damaged in the blaze that broke out Wednesday, Oct. 23 northeast of Geyserville near The Geysers. Authorities noted those numbers are likely to rise as damage-assessment teams continue to survey the burn areas.

Some 4,200 firefighters with 300 fire agencies from California and 12 other U.S. states continue to battle the Kincade Fire.

Sheriff Essick said those who remain under mandatory evacuation orders live in or near the burn zone, and it is not safe for them to re-enter their communities at this time.

The sheriff added that 10 people have been arrested for allegedly trying to enter an evacuation zone or successfully entering an evacuation zone. Those arrested were not residents of the affected areas and had no business being there, according to Sheriff Essick.

In all, the sheriff said, three looting instances have been reported by Kincade Fire evacuees who returned home to find their home or businesses were burglarized and items were missing.

As of Wednesday evening, mandatory evacuation orders remained in effect for:

— Zone 1B: West of Lake County Line, North and East of Highway 128. South of Cloverdale, East of Asti Road/Geyserville Avenue at Canyon Road, including Asti Road;

— Zone 3C: Area South of Highway 128 and the fireline, East of Windsor Town limits, North of Faught Road at Shiloh Road and the Zone 5B boundary;

— Zone 5B: South of Highway 128 and Yellow Jacket Ranch Road, West of Highway 128 and the Zone 6 boundary to the Zone 3C boundary, including areas accessed East of Shiloh Ridge Road at Mayacama Club Drive; and

— Zone 2: Highway 128 North Knights Valley Area to the Napa County Line.

Watch the full evening briefing here:

UPDATED, 4 p.m. Oct. 30: Authorities lifted some mandatory Kincade Fire evacuation orders and downgraded others to warnings Wednesday afternoon, allowing thousands of evacuees to return home.

"The entire Town of Windsor, the entire City of Healdsburg, and the remainder of City of Santa Rosa are downgraded to an evacuation warning," the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said at 2:08 p.m. Wednesday. "This means you can return home now at your own risk. These areas are still at risk from the Kincade Fire."

Some residents, such as those close to the burn area, will need to show ID at a checkpoint so authorities can keep the burn area closed to the public.

"Only residents will be allowed through checkpoints ... If you don’t pass a checkpoint, you don’t need to check in with anyone or need an escort,"sheriff's officials said.

The city of Healdsburg advised that its residents "do not need to check in with anyone and ... do not need a peace officer escort."

"Note that while there is power within the Healdsburg city limits, PG&E has not yet turned on gas service," city of Healdsburg officials said. "For any PG&E-related questions, call 1-800-743-500 or go to https://bit.ly/32Yik1W."

The sheriff's office further announced that all evacuation orders and warnings have been lifted without restrictions for:

• Zone 7 (West County and the Coast)
• Zone 4A (northern Dry Creek Valley)
• Zone 8B (Sebastopol and south, meaning everything north of Occidental Road, south of River Road, east of Highway 116, and the unincorporated properties west of Fulton Road, including the Santa Rosa Country Club and Olivet/Piner areas
• All City of Santa Rosa warning areas: Zone 9, Zone 10, and the portion of Zone 6 within Santa Rosa city limits.

Anyone with questions about returning home may call 211.

View or click on the map below for the latest evacuation information.

ORIGINAL POST: Although the eastern part of the Kincade Fire was active overnight, Cal Fire officials report that containment is up. The massive wildfire that has been burning for one week, forcing nearly 200,000 people to flee from their homes, was 30-percent contained Wednesday morning and 76,825 acres in size.

As a whole, firefighters continue to make forward progress although access to the northern part of the fire remains a challenge because of steep terrain and narrow roads, according to Cal Fire.

A National Weather Service red flag warning remains in effect for the North Bay through 4 p.m. Wednesday because of strong offshore winds and critically low humidity.

Thus far, Cal Fire officials say 206 structures, including 94 homes, have been destroyed by the fire. Another 90,015 structures are threatened, 80,435 of those residential.

While more than 5,000 firefighters from California and several other U.S. states work toward full containment, which is expected Nov. 7, many evacuation orders remain in effect.

The entire cities of Healdsburg and Windsor, as well as parts of Santa Rosa, remain evacuated.

"Mandatory Evacuation Order: Yes, it’s still in place," city of Healdsburg officials said Wednesday morning. "Please do not try to re-enter Healdsburg. Reminder that we are still in a formal evacuation zone due to fire threat, and Cal Fire and other agencies are responsible for lifting this order. This evacuation order is in place for your safety: Even though Healdsburg has power, first responders must be able to do their job without having to worry about the safety of its community members."

Meanwhile, an evacuation advisory remains in place for Calistoga.

"The CALFIRE issued Evacuation Advisory specific to Calistoga remains in place but is anticipated to be lifted by tomorrow (Oct. 31st)," city of Calistoga officials said. "Any change in this advisory status will be communicated via Nixle."

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• Kincade Fire Live Updates: 90K Homes Threatened; 76K Acres Burned
• Kincade Fire Live Updates: 74K Acres Burned; 80K Homes Threatened
• Kincade Fire Evac Advisory Still Stands For Calistoga In Napa Co.
• Kincade Fire Latest: Over 25,000 Acres Burned
• Kincade Fire Latest: Concerns Mount Fire Could Jump West Over 101