Arnold Fire: Evacuations Near Schellville Lifted

SONOMA VALLEY, CA — Evacuation orders were lifted Saturday evening following a vegetation fire near Schellville that reportedly destroyed three outbuildings. The Arnold Fire was reported at about 4 p.m. Saturday near the 23000 block of Highway 121 — Arnold Drive — west of Schellville, near the junction of 116 and 121.

The fire spurred a mandatory evacuation order for occupants of homes and businesses within a one-mile radius of a tow business near the intersection of state Highways 116 and 121 near Schellville in rural Sonoma County south of Sonoma, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said Saturday afternoon.

More than 100 firefighters responded and contained the fire to seven acres.

The fire started in a ditch and spread to vegetation, ultimately destroying three buildings, Schellville's fire chief told members of the media. The fire was not suspicious not but the wind was a challenge, the chief said.

An evacuation advisory went into effect for people within two miles of the burn area, the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office said. That and all other evacuation orders were lifted by about 6:10 p.m., the sheriff's office said in an update.

The fire burned vegetation and spread to outbuildings at the nearby Cornerstone Sonoma wine-tasting complex, said Ray Mulas, chief of the Schell-Vista Fire Protection District.

Attendees of two weddings and a birthday party taking place at the Cornerstone were evacuated, Mulas said, adding that an estimated 200 people were evacuated from an area of about a square mile from where the fire burned.

Amid 45-mph gusts of wind, firefighters spared six outbuildings, Mulas said.

The cause is under investigation, Mulas said, but someone tossing a lit cigarette from a car on Arnold Drive is a distinct possibility.

"It sure is looking that way — we don't know of anything else right now," Mulas said.

Fire crews are expected to be on the scene well into the night doing mop-up work, the chief said.

— Bay City News Service contributed to this report.