Amid many parts of the Bay Area being under a Red Flag Warning through Monday, Napa County Sheriff's deputies frantically hurried to warn rural wine country residents early Sunday morning to evacuate as the Glass Fire began burning through dry hillsides north of St. Helena and east of Calistoga.
In a dizzying, demoralizing fit of déjà vu, another NorCal fire is raging in the northern end Napa Valley — just a few miles west of the LNU Lightning Complex boundary — that broke out overnight. As of 10 a.m. Sunday morning, the Glass Fire, as it's being called, had already burned 1,000 acres, and that figure rose to 1,500 acres as of 4 p.m. Cal Fire warned of the inferno's "dangerous rate of spread" with high wind conditions continuing, and evacuation orders continue to pile up. The name was derived from the fire's proximity to Glass Mountain Road.
The wildfire had been just 20 acres in size at around 4 a.m. Sunday.
#GlassFire east of Calistoga in Napa county is 800 acres. Evacuations in progress. @CALFIRELNU
— CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) September 27, 2020
https://t.co/8emg5vYHv7 pic.twitter.com/aCVVkIFuEP
Fun wake up call this am. This is across the street from our house - behind Mending Wall winery. pic.twitter.com/rtKMzJd64z
— Bryn Jackson (@superbryntendo) September 27, 2020
KPIX reported that at 4:15 a.m., Napa County officials issued evacuation orders for residents living in and around the Deer Park community. Less than three hours later, inhabitants occupying properties on 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, and all of Lommel Road were told to evacuate.
Glass Fire Evacuation Center Open at Crosswalk Community Church, 2590 First Street in Napa. Bring a face covering, practice good hygiene, and social distancing. Open only to those impacted by the evacuations and an address verification will be in place. https://t.co/qu4aB3aWzd
— Mike (Wear A Mask) Thompson (@RepThompson) September 27, 2020
Below is the entire list of evacuation currently underway in Napa County, per KRON4:
- All of Crystal Springs Rd and North Fork Crystal Spring Rd.Silverado Trail from Larkmead Ln to Deer Park Rd.
- Deer Park Rd to Crystal Springs Rd
- Deer Park Rd to Devils Elbow
- East side of Silverado Trail from Larkmead Rd to Deer Park Rd. This includes 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
- An evacuation warning was upgraded to an order as of noon for the east side of Silverado Trail from Lommel Road to Pickett Road.
- Update: All of the Silverado Trail from Howell Mountain south to Taplin Road including all of Taplin Road and the roads off of it are under evacuation orders, as is the entirety of the Meadowood resort.
The Glass Fire has already leveled some structures in the area, and as SFGate noted, the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District sent a rescue team to help evacuate patients at the 151-bed Adventist Health St. Helena Hospital. The hospital's emergency room reportedly remains open.
On top of the elevated smoke plume from the Sierra wildfires that will gradually move closer to our area this evening, there is now a thin line of elevated smoke coming from the #GlassFire #GlassIncident that is being driven by offshore winds into Sonoma and Marin counties. #CaWx pic.twitter.com/9BPnTUDGo8
— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) September 27, 2020
Smoke and ash from the fire are blowing in a direct line over parts of Sonoma and Marin County, and may be reaching San Francisco as well due to the offshore flow of wind continuing into Monday.
According to the official Cal Fire report, the cause of the fire is still "under investigation," and the Glass Fire is currently 0 percent contained. It's still unclear how many structures have been burned so far.
As the Chronicle reports, power to the area around the fire was shut off at 4:30 a.m. at the request of Cal Fire. Some of those residents ordered to evacuate in the Deer Park area this morning had previously evacuated in August due to the LNU Complex.
More video from the #GlassFire this morning. pic.twitter.com/36SpjWC2LD
— Reyna Harvey (@ReynaHarveyB) September 27, 2020
You can read the official Cal Fire report, here — but expect the data regarding the fire to change as the day goes on.
Update 11 p.m.: After sunset on Sunday, two new fires were sparked in the vicinity of the Glass Fire, the Shady Fire and the Boysen Fire, with the former jumping the ridge into eastern Sonoma County at the edge of Santa Rosa. Evacuation orders proceeded for parts of Santa Rosa, including a senior community along Highway 12 in Oakmont, and other parts of Sonoma County near Kenwood to the south were under evacuation warnings.
Below was the map as of 2 a.m.:
Releated: Possibly Smoky Air, High Surf, High Winds, and High Heat On the Way
Three Major Bay Wildfires Now At or Near Full Containment, Five and a Half Weeks Later
The post has been updated throughout.