Fires in Napa

[Gerald Arana]

David F. Are the fires anywhere near you? I sure hope not.

Cheers, Jerry

[Paul Walker]

Dave and his family have been evacuated from their house.
They are awaiting the "all clear" signal to return.
Last time we conversed, he knew their house was OK. However, he was still very concerned.

[Brett Buck]

It was very close already and it's not over yet. There is next to no and they are claiming *no* containment, meaning it's burning freely whichever way the wind happens to be blowing.

   I know this is a trivial side point, but if anyone was planning to come by Napa and practice for Golden State, forget it. The field and the roads to it are still open but the last thing anyone around there needs is extraneous traffic and the air quality is likely to be anywhere from "very unhealthy" to "need to evacuate immediately". Even as far down as the South Bay (80-90 miles away), we had enough smoke to block the sun to the point there were no shadows, and it lowered the air temperature due to lack of light.

   This is one of those rare cases where the news reports are not hype, this is far and away the most critical situation/natural disaster we have had since Loma Prieta. It's as least as bad as they make it out to be.

     Brett

[Larry Fernandez]

I'm in South San Jose, about a hundred miles from the fires.
The smoke has irritated my eyes and you can actually smell smoke.
My cars were covered in soot this afternoon.
As Brett said, its every bit as bad as the press has made it out to be.
Entire neighborhoods burned to the ground

[Mike Scholtes]

This is like a repeat of a nightmare for us Oakland area people who lived through the 1991 firestorm that destroyed 3500 homes and killed dozens of people. Arson-set, like the Napa-Sonoma fires likely are. We are only 30 miles south of Napa and the smoke and ash are so bad that school events are being cancelled and people are staying indoors. Sure hope Dave F's home and vineyard escape, he is in the path of an uncontrolled fire front. Famed cyclist Levi Leipheimer's Santa Rosa home burned to the ground. A 100-year-old house my sister (interior designer) has been working on for 6 years is history. This is really, really bad and is going to affect the economy and quality of life around here for a long time.

For practice, our Alameda field is sooty but usable if anyone wants to get in last minute flying. Somewhat ragged around the edges but serviceable. Open 24-7 with no restrictions, CL only. 

[Brett Buck]

Actually, I would add to my previous comments to say - stay well clear of the area even when driving to Golden State, and unless you have pressing business, I would suggest staying well clear of the North Bay, and Oakland and San Francisco. I wouldn't recommend going down I-80 West of the I-505 cutoff and if you want to go to some place in the South Bay, I suggest I-5 to 205/80 and then down 680, around the south end of the bay and then back up. There are apparently fires near the 80/680 split and even southeast of there in the Sacramento delta.

    Those of you from the Northwest will certainly see the effects even if you stay on the I-5.

   Air quality is extremely poor to dangerous north of the bay. It's not nearly as bad in the South bay as it was yesterday morning, but it can change very rapidly, and it's still poor.

   There's not a lot of relief coming, it looks like it might rain by the end of next week (which is about what you expect in a normal year), but until then it's hard to see how any of this will stop, short of just running out of things to burn.

     Brett

[john e. holliday]

Isn't there some way of getting rid of all the brush before the fire season?   We are lucky in that most of our areas can be taken care of.

[Fredvon4]

Ah Doc...the great state of CA has more ninnies desiring to keep MA nature as she was or is ...instead of some basic common prevention

MY sisters still live there...one in Gillroy and one near Nappa...both safe

Half my parentage is San Fran Bay area so I keep up with a lot of things California

If I read it correctly there are some counties where property owners are REQUIRED to do proper and sane brush control. Yet in other counties it is actually forbidden to do the logical cut back...

There is a LOT good about the State of California and there is some wildly insane behaviors also

[Brett Buck]

Isn't there some way of getting rid of all the brush before the fire season?   We are lucky in that most of our areas can be taken care of.

   The "brush" are the trees and various debris in what would be called mountains in most of the country and are generally inaccessible and very rugged interspersed with high grass, which has been subjected to 100+ degree and 10% humidity for months, and not a drop of rain. Most people don't get it, but the majority of the area receives under 20" of rain a year, and it's all in late October-early March. From April on, more or less, it just doesn't rain at all until mid-late October.  The same areas are, ironically, very subject to flooding in the winter, because the rain all comes in 4-5 individual 1-day storms. The mountains are very steep, it all washes into a few small rivers like the Napa and American rivers in the space a few tens of hours.

   Everyone knew that fire season would be bad this year, all the rain last winter caused a tremendous undergrowth to form, which is now the fuel for the fire. Fire is natural and required for the health of the forests, however, it's also a very attractive place to build and the valleys have long since been populated.

      Brett

[Derek Barry]

Just got word that David and his family are safe. He was allowed to go back to his house today to collect some of his possessions. Cars, planes, tools, and other important items. He said that they are not allowed to stay at their home, but he and the family are safe.

Derek

[Brett Buck]

They lifted the mandatory evacuation order for David's part of town yesterday. I doubt that the power is back on yet, but the fire has burned well past there, in fact, way down to the south almost to American Canyon. If the wind stays down, or if it blow in the normal direction (northwest), that might be about as far as it gets in that direction. It will drive the other end (the north end) of the fire further up the line of hills, probably.

   For those who want to keep track, the one affecting David was the Atlas fire:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1TOEFA857tOVxtewW1DH6neG1Sm0&hl=en&ll=38.55304865337235%2C-122.4228585449219&z=10

   It had burned down to within a few miles of the Napa flying field, but there's not much chance it will be affected, it's in the middle of the valley formed by the Napa river and right next to it, maybe 40-50 yards to the West, with a well-watered golf course and bare ground to the east of that. I think that the hills in the background of this picture are probably burned, for example:



  The whole thing is far from over but the most immediate problems for people we know are getting better. Of course, there are still 31 people known dead and 400 "missing", and thousands displaced, so it's a huge problem that is not over and not likely to be over for a while.

     Brett

[Paul Walker]

Got a note from Dave this morning. They ARE back in their house, for the time being. They have power, but no gas, so no hot water, or heat. But, all is safe for them at this time. They are still at the mercy of the weather though.

[Randy Cuberly]

Very glad David and his family are safe.  Hope things get better for them quickly.

Truly unfortunate that such marvelous country has to be destroyed by fires!

A lot of folks think these fires are not "natural" but are started by terrorists.  Not sure that's true but it does make sense from a certain perspective.  Terrorists however are usually quick to claim responsibility for their "good deeds" and I don't think that anyone usually claims responsibility for these.  At least if they do we never hear about it on the Boob Tube!

We often have fires like that here in Arizona but they are usually confined to areas that are relatively unpopulated.  We did, however have a very bad one in the mountains to the east of Tucson several years ago that destroyed a lot of property and cost several lives.  Very tragic!

I pray that things "Cool Down" there in CA.

Randy Cuberly

[Brett Buck]

A lot of folks think these fires are not "natural" but are started by terrorists.  Not sure that's true but it does make sense from a certain perspective.  Terrorists however are usually quick to claim responsibility for their "good deeds" and I don't think that anyone usually claims responsibility for these.  At least if they do we never hear about it on the Boob Tube!

     It's the Religion of Peace^(tm) after all. As long as you do exactly as they say and kill everyone else, very peaceful indeed.

     This is not terrorists, the wind was 50-ish mph when it started, the leading theory is that downed power lines out in the wilderness started the fires. And by wilderness, I mean, the real deal, craggy mountains, deep valleys, cliffs, bears, mountain lions, etc, no roads for the most part. No human being has every set foot in most of it and it's right outside of town. It's the sort of thing that people from the east don't really understand or "get" and can't really be explained without having seen it. There are large areas where you might be driving down the interstate, see a hill in the distance, and then you realize it's flat for the next 50 miles. Or you can be driving along on dead-flat farmland at an elevation of 10', and 10 minutes later you are 7000 feet in a mountain that you have never heard of before. There could be a Bigfoot village 5 miles from David's house and it's possible no one would know about it. The hill that David's fire started on is a mountain about 2800 feet high next to a plain at 10 feet. It's an old volcano, old being relative to human existence but new in geological terms.


     Brett

[Fredvon4]

Brett of course you do a great job of describing the area and dynamics...thanks

But a lot of us NOT (in or from) CALIFORNIA remember some of the Santa Anna wind blown fires way down south... seems to me over the last decade many were thought or proved to be arson... Bu from what I read I would not jump to a "terrorism" conclusion...just a simpleton butt head

When we lived in the bay area 60~70s, we vacationed and camped a lot in the area where the fires are now. So I at least have a good understanding of the terrain and associated problems.

Got a sister up in the fire region but, for now, not in danger

Sister in Gillroy has or had some of the smoke problems