Glass Fire Threatens 2,268 Napa County Homes; More Evacs Ordered

ST. HELENA, CA — A wildfire that broke out early Sunday in the Deer Park area of Napa County had burned at least 2,500 acres with no containment as the sun fell. Residents in the area have been forced to flee as the rapidly spreading vegetation fire threatened homes.

UPDATE: Glass Fire Expands To 11,000 Acres In Napa, Sonoma Counties

Additional mandatory evacuation orders, this time for areas west of state Highway 29, were issued at 8:40 p.m.; all of Deer Park Road to Elmhurst, and all of Spring Mountain Road, were told they must leave their homes, the Napa County Office of Emergency Services said.

The Glass Fire, which sparked near the 200 block of North Fork Crystal Springs Road at 3:50 a.m. Sunday amid a red flag warning, was already 20 acres and burning at a dangerous rate of spread when the first firefighters arrived, Cal Fire's Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit said.

By 12:50 p.m., the blaze was 1,200 acres with zero containment.

"Crews have reported the fire has had short-range spotting with wind-driven runs," Cal Fire officials said in an evening update. "Crews overnight will be working on perimeter control, structure defense and evacuation planning."

Some 2,268 homes and other structures were threatened by the blaze heading into the night.

Cal Fire has not yet confirmed whether homes have been damaged or destroyed.

Early Sunday evening, residents on the east side of Silverado Trail from Deer Park Road south to Meadowood Lane, who had been under evacuation warning, were ordered to evacuate, as were residents of Meadowood Resort on Conn Valley Road.

In addition, an evacuation warning was issued for the east side Silverado Trail from Howell Mountain south to Taplin Road including all of Taplin Road and the entirety of roads in between, the Napa County Office of Emergency Services said late Sunday afternoon.

You can click here to view an interactive map of road closures in effect due to the blaze.

An evacuation warning was upgraded Sunday afternoon to an evacuation order for residents on Deer Park Road south along the east side of the Silverado Trail to Howell Mountain Road in Napa County ahead of the Glass Fire, Napa County officials announced.

PG&E customers in the area also experienced power outages but it was unclear whether the shutoffs were prompted by the fire. The utility announced Sunday morning that 65,000 customers in 16 Northern California counties, including Napa County, would experience shutoffs due to strong winds predicted for the areas.

Air units were making drops Sunday as mutual aid from jurisdictions around the region were called to assist with the fast-burning blaze. An ambulance strike team was also dispatched from Contra Costa County to help evacuate Adventist Health St. Helena hospital.

Almost 900 firefighters were assigned to the Glass Fire as night fell. The San Francisco Fire Department has sent five engines and 22 personnel, while units from the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District, San Ramon Valley Fire Department, Richmond Fire Department the Rodeo-Hercules Fire District have also sent crews.

I just spoke with Napa County emergency officials. They said evacuations for #GlassFire were ordered for 660 homes, representing about 2,000 people, including 50 patients from Adventist St. Helena Hospital. Evac center: Crosswalk Community Church, 2590 First Street in Napa.
— Tyler Silvy (@tylersilvy) September 27, 2020

The sheriff's office first started issuing evacuations around 4:30 a.m. Sunday; by 7 a.m., authorities issued mandatory evacuations orders for:

• All of Crystal Springs Road and North Fork Crystal Springs Road in St. Helena
• The east side of Silverado Trail from Larkmead Road to Deer Park Road, including both sides of Deer Park Road up to Crestmont Drive including Sanitarium Road.
• 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
• All of Lommel Road

The city of Calistoga advised at 4:25 a.m. that smoke and flames were visible in the city because of the fire near Crystal Springs in St. Helena.

First responders were asking those leaving not to stop or park in turnouts to view the fire, urging that those spaces are needed for emergency vehicles.

#GlassFire E side Napa Valley E of Silverado Trail cross of Bale lane. Structure protection. pic.twitter.com/sVgaadhWsn
— craig philpott (@CphilpottCraig) September 27, 2020

Evacuees should head for the city of Napa, where an evacuation center was set up at Crosswalk Community Church, 2590 First St., according to the Napa County Office of Emergency Services.

The center is solely for residents seeking shelter from the fire; address verification will be in place. Evacuees should bring a face covering and adhere to physical distancing, county officials said.

Napa County OES was continuing to update evacuation information via Nixle.

A look at the #GlassFire this morning from the Atlas Peak webcam in Napa Valley. #Cawx #cafire pic.twitter.com/rULP7uuONp
— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) September 27, 2020

A community group has also make arrangements to care for animals of those ordered to evacuate.

Napa Community Animal Response Team, a volunteer, nonprofit organization, is offering assistance for those facing mandatory evacuation and needing help sheltering large animals.

Evacuees should call ahead to Napa CART at 707-732-1555 before bringing large animals to its shelter at the Napa Valley Horsemen's Association, 1200 Foster Road in Napa. Bring feed if possible, the group said.

Shelter for companion animals is available at Napa County Animal Services, 942 Hartle Court in Napa; calling 707- 253-4382 in advance was advised.

The Glass Fire came amid a red flag warning for the North Bay and elsewhere in the Bay Area.

"The great threat will be in elevations above 1,000 feet across these regions," the National Weather Service San Francisco Bay Area said. "These winds will combine with critically low humidity resulting in critical fire weather conditions. In these conditions, any ongoing fires or new fires will have the potential to rapidly spread."

Our SF Fire Department is heading up to Napa to help with the growing #GlassFire: 5 fire engines to fight the fire & 4 ambulances to help with hospital evacuations. Our thoughts are with our neighbors to the north & our SFFD members meeting the call for mutual aid. Stay safe! pic.twitter.com/k0u2IrATZQ
— London Breed (@LondonBreed) September 27, 2020

Bay City News and Patch staffer Kat Schuster contributed to this report.