Community Corner
Cal Fire Explains How Putah Burn Escaped
A prescribed burn along Highway 128 grew beyond planned control lines this week, but Cal Fire says crews kept the fire manageable.
NAPA VALLEY, CA — Cal Fire released a video Thursday morning explaining what led to Monday's Putah Fire, which escaped containment from a controlled burn and has burned an estimated 860 acres along state Highway 128 on the Yolo-Solano county line. As of Thursday morning, the Putah Fire was 60% contained.
"Although the fire was able to burn outside of our operational control lines, it didn't burn outside of our management boundary," said Ryan Isham, deputy chief for Cal Fire's Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit, in Thursday's video.
According to Isham, the Putah Fire burned land in a 6,800-acre property already designated for burns.
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"Although this fire got bigger than what we initially intended to be, we were able to keep it on the property that was already approved for that work to be done," he said.
Cal Fire spokesperson Jason Clay said in a phone call Monday that "the winds picked up and escaped the established control line."
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In the video, Isham explained the history of prescribed burns along Highway 128 near Monticello Dam Road outside Winters. It's an area that has seen some of Northern California's biggest blazes and is considered by Cal Fire to be one of the highest "return interval" fire areas in the state.
"The burn was first established in 2018 after four consecutive years of that area being affected by large scale wildfires that went several thousand acres each," said Isham.
In 2014, the Monticello Fire burned 6,600 acres. In 2015, the Rag Fire burned 2,000 acres. In 2016, the Cole Fire burned 5,700 acres. In 2017, the Winters Fire burned 2,400 acres.
Dried grasses with "vehicle malfunctions" along Highway 128 have been the main cause of fire, said Isham, explaining that the burns target those grasses.
"The scope of the project was to eliminate dead and dying fuel along the highway," he said. "Most of those fires were started from vehicles traveling through that area."
According to Cal Fire, since prescribed burns started, the wildfires that have hit the area haven't originated on the Highway 128 corridor being treated on Monday.
No structures were damaged or destroyed in the Putah Fire, said Isham. But, he said, they're taking conditions like wind and air moisture levels into consideration for future prescribed burns.
By Griffin Jones, Bay City News
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