North Bay: Point Fire prompts evacuations, burns over 1,000 acres
The Point Fire in Sonoma County that broke out Sunday has burned more than 1,000 acres, destroyed some structures, and prompted evacuation orders near its origin at Lake Sonoma, authorities said.
The fire also appears to be heading toward several wineries in the area.
Cal Fire reported that the blaze was first reported at 12:33 p.m. in an area about 12 miles northwest of Healdsburg, west of Geyserville. It’s one of more than a dozen wildfires burning across the state.
As of 10 p.m. Sunday night, the state firefighting agency listed the fire as having grown to 1,013 acres and being 15 percent contained. There have been no immediate reports of significant injuries, but Cal Fire wrote in a social media post that “we do have confirmed reports of structures destroyed and are working through damage inspections on the structure type and number.”
The post also stated that the fire has made its way south toward Mountain View Ranch Road, putting several wineries located on and south of that road in the fire’s path.
Evacuation orders have been issued for residents on Fall Creek Road, Stewarts Point-Skaggs Spring Road and West Dry Creek Road. Evacuation warnings — alerts telling residents to be ready to leave — have been issued for areas extending south from Lake Sonoma.
Cal Fire said late Sunday that “crews are hopeful the threat to structures along the Upper Dry Creek Valley will diminish at sundown.”
As a result of the fire, air quality was registering as unhealthy from Healdsburg to Napa, according to online readings from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. The National Weather Service forecasted that overnight smoke from the fire would follow along the same northwest-to-southeast trajectory.
According to Cal Fire, seven crews are battling the fire, backed by more than 20 units of equipment including three helicopter. The fire has reportedly consumed brush and Fir trees, and has been fueled in part by northwest winds and low relative humidity.
Oddly enough, the origin of the Point Fire was not subject to weekend red-flag warnings from the National Weather Service, though other parts of Sonoma County as well as Napa, Solano and Sacramento counties had the warnings in effect.
The largest wildfire currently burning in the state is the Post Fire near Gorman in Los Angeles County, which was first reported Saturday afternoon and had burned 14,625 acres as of Sunday evening. Authorities have listed it as 2 percent contained.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.