Sonoma County Wildfires, 1 Week In: Containment Up; Region Begins Recovery Process

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — The massive effort by thousands of firefighters — not only on the ground but from the air — to bring an end to the wildfires raging for more than a week in Sonoma and Napa counties is starting to pay off, according to Cal Fire. The agency reported Monday morning that the Tubbs Fire, part of the Central LNU Complex fires in Sonoma and Napa counties was 70-percent contained at 36,390 acres.

"The most active portion of the fire is still the northeastern portion around Red Hill and Mount Saint Helena," Cal Fire officials said in a Monday morning incident update. "The fire continues to make short uphill runs around to the north side of the peaks. The acreage of the fire has decreased based on the completion of more accurate and detailed mapping."

Meanwhile, the Nuns Fire was 48,627 acres with 50-percent containment.

Also See: Napa Residents Come Home To Rubble, Devastation

"Fire is progressing to north, spreading at a moderate rate," Cal Fire reported. "The fire is being driven by steep slopes and dry fuel."

The Pocket Fire was 11,889 acres and 40-percent contained.

"The fire continues to progress to the north," officials said. "Crews continue to make progress and increase containment."

The Oakmont Fire, which started Saturday on the east side of Highway 12 near the Oakmont community, was 875 acres Monday morning and 15-percent contained. The wildfire was "progressing in a northerly direction with moderate rate of spread," according to Cal Fire.

Authorities have slowly been lifting evacuation orders in parts of Santa Rosa and elsewhere.

At noon Monday, the following mandatory evacuation orders were lifted for:

• Community of Kenwood including Bennett Valley Rd. and the area east of Petaluma Hill Rd.,
• outside the fire perimeter
• Community of Boyes Hot Springs including the area east of Highway 12 to the fire perimeter and
• south from Madrone Road to Verano Ave.
• Community of Glen Ellen East Arnold Drive to the fire perimeter and south from Martin Street to
• Madrone Road
• The City of Sonoma in the area east of Highway 12 to 4th Street East and south of East Verano to
• East and West Spain Street
• The City of Sonoma in the area 7th Street East from East Napa Street South to Denmark

[Click here to enter your address on a map depicting current evacuation information.]

Recovery Process Begins

At least 4,289 homes, businesses and other structures were destroyed by the fires in Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties, a majority of those in Santa Rosa and its outlying communities. Local assistance centers have opened in Sonoma and Napa counties. In Sonoma County, residents and business owners affected by the wildfires are beginning the recovery process by visiting the center set up inside part of the Press Democrat building at 427 Mendocino Ave. in Santa Rosa.

In a midday briefing Monday, Sonoma County District 3 Supervisor Shirlee Zane said more than 1,200 households had already been served at the local assistance center. The center provides a variety of services, including document replacement and help accessing federal aid, for people recovering from the fires. Santa Rosa city buses are offering free transportation from shelters to the center, Zane said, and there is free parking in a city lot off of B Street near the center.

Santa Rosa Mayor Chris Coursey said shelters within the city were still housing 689 evacuees Monday. He encouraged residents affected by the fires to visit Srcity.org/emergency for fire-related information.

A limited number of school districts reopened Monday, with more expected to resume normal schedules Tuesday. However, the following districts will remain closed through this week, according to the Sonoma County Office of Education: Bellevue; Bennett Valley; Geyserville; Kenwood; Mark West; Piner Olivet Union; Rincon Valley; Roseland; Santa Rosa City Schools; and Sonoma Valley. [Click here for complete information about school district statuses within the county.]

As for Sonoma County government operations, all offices at the county center remain closed until 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Those looking for their pets can visit the Sonoma County Animal Services website, where photos of animals being cared for at county shelters are posted.

Supervisor Zane said the county's hotline has received thousands of calls since Oct. 8, but the calls recently have changed from ones with questions about evacuations to ones about coping with the devastation wrought by the fires.

"The shock has worn off and the sadness and depression and overwhelming loss is beginning to set in," she said.

Zane encouraged anyone having problems coping with the fires to call the county's mental health hotline at 707-565-6900.

Among other updates in Sonoma County, Santa Rosa Fire Chief Tony Gossner said the pharmacy has reopened at Kaiser Permanente's Santa Rosa Medical Center at 401 Bicentennial Way but the hospital itself remains closed.

The county's death toll from the fires remains at 22 but 88 other people remain missing, Sheriff Rob Giordano said. Sheriff's deputies and members of the National Guard are doing targeted searches for the missing people as well as general searches of burned-out neighborhoods, Giordano said.

"We don't want to miss a person," he said.

Mayor Coursey thanked people for donating food and supplies but said they are no longer accepting donations at any Santa Rosa city shelters or police or fire facilities. Those wanting to donate food can drop off packaged dry foods at Redwood Empire Food Bank, 3990 Brickway Boulevard, in Santa Rosa. The food bank is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., the mayor said.

For those wishing to help, the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County has information posted online at Volunteernow.org. Those wishing to help can also call 707-573-3399.

If a homeowner whose home or place of work has been impacted by a wildfire and their mortgage is owned by Freddie Mac, officials with the agency urge homeowners to call their mortgage company. Mortgage relief is available to homeowners in areas where federal Individual Assistance has been extended, which today includes the counties of Napa and Sonoma.

A mortgage company is authorized to suspend mortgage payments for up to 12 months, waive the assessment of penalties or late fees against homeowners with disaster-damaged homes and suspend reporting forbearance or late payments caused by the wildfires to national credit bureau agencies.

Homeowners may also be eligible for disaster assistance through the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Patch will update this post with fire-related information throughout the day; please update the page for the latest.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

Photos by Al Francis/Napasonomaphotos.com