Fueled by hot and dry conditions, the Pickett fire in Napa County grew over the weekend, becoming the largest in the region this year as it spurred evacuations while threatening homes and vineyards.
The blaze broke out Thursday and was burning north of the town of Calistoga. As of Sunday evening, it had scorched 6,800 acres and was 11% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. No injuries have been reported and no structures have burned, officials said, but about 100 people are under an evacuation order.
Dusty Martin, Cal Fire incident commander, said that although the “footprint of the fire” remained stable throughout the day Sunday, “there’s a lot of work” before the blaze will be contained.
Crews were battling the blaze in “steep, rugged, inaccessible terrain,” added Steve Chapman, operations section chief, requiring firefighters to make an arduous trek in hot, smoky weather to reach the fire lines. “It takes a long time to walk in,” Chapman said.
Adding to the challenges, a “thermal belt” — a pocket of hot air that persists and fuels fire activity at night — is expected to affect the area over the next few days.
Still, officials said crews had been successful so far at holding the fire, and some people who had been ordered to evacuate were allowed to return home. Napa County Sheriff Oscar Ortiz said officials had opened a shelter for evacuees, but “nobody showed up.”
During a Sunday morning video update, Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Operations Chief Jeremy Pierce said that, although the fire had grown, he was “confident” about the coming period.
Firefighters from around the region streamed into the county to help in the operation, and as of Sunday evening more than 2,000 people were battling the blaze, including 140 engines, 20 hand crews and 10 helicopters, according to Cal Fire’s website.
The Pickett fire was among several burning in parts of California under a spell of hot and dry summer weather.
The National Weather Service on Sunday said there were “elevated fire weather conditions through at least Monday for a high potential of plume-dominated fire behavior over the mountains and interior” in California.
Plume-dominated fires shoot huge plumes of smoke into the air, which collapse on themselves and create unpredictable winds.
The “elevated” conditions were a downgrade from Saturday, when the service issued a red flag warning for portions of Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
Angeles National Forest reported Sunday that several lightning fires had been knocked down. They included a quarter-acre burn south of Quail Lake, as well as a fire by Table Mountain near Wrightwood. Crews were fighting another small fire near Manker Flat by Mt. Baldy.
The Little fire in Kern County, which broke out Friday and reached 300 acres by Saturday, was 2,537 acres on Sunday evening with no containment.
More fires were reported Sunday, including the Garnet fire in Fresno County, the Look fire in Tulare County, the Sky fire in Lake County and the 1-1 fire in Lassen County. All were less than 1,000 acres, with zero containment, according to Cal Fire.
Source link