Kincade Fire Latest: Concerns Mount Fire Could Jump West Over 101

High winds. Dangerously low humidity. And now more than 180,000 people forced to evacuate.

By Colin Miner, Patch Staff
Oct 27, 2019 3:07 pm ET | Updated Oct 27, 2019 3:56 pm ET
Officials are concerned that the Kincade Fire could jump west over Highway 101.


SONOMA COUNTY, CA — With humidity in the single digits and winds gusting to 76 mph, officials in Sonoma County are concerned that the things could get substantially worse. More than 30,000 acres have already burned and, as of Sunday morning, the fire was only 10 percent contained.

At a Sunday morning news conference, officials warned that while winds could die down and humidity could rise through tomorrow, conditions are expected to worsen again on Tuesday into Wednesday. On Sunday morning, Governor Newsom announced a statewide emergency.

"We are deploying every resource available, and are coordinating with numerous agencies as we continue to respond to these fires. It is critical that people in evacuation zones heed the warnings from officials and first responders, and have the local and state resources they need as we fight these fires," he said in a statement.

Officials say that a chief concern is with winds driving the Kincade fire west, it could jump U.S 101 into an area that has not burned since the 1940s. That means there is plenty of growth to fuel the fire.

Residents of that area should have an evacuation plan in place covering documents, medications, pets, and more.

Officials say that there are hundreds of peace officers and thousands of firefighters battling the fire.

The amount of smoke from the fire has caused major problems for U.S. 101, which has been shut and reopened several times on Sunday because of visibility issues and fire concerns.

They said a major responsibility of the peace officers is to guard the properties from where more than 180,000 people ave been evacuated.

There have been no reports of looting.

"Please leave soon if you haven't already," a Nixle alert from the city said on Saturday.

Those not able to physically evacuate due to medical conditions are being asked to call the sheriff's office at 911. Essick said officials are encouraging residents to help their neighbors who may not be able to evacuate due to disabilities.

Anyone with general questions about the evacuation can call 211.

Officials also urged residents to not wait until the last minute to evacuate.

The Healdsburg evacuation center is being closed. The city said in a Nixle alert the following evacuation centers are open, however, the City of Petaluma said Sunday morning that it has reached capacity at all of its evacuation centers. Petaluma is not accepting any more people at its evacuation centers.

Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building – 1351 Maple Ave, Santa Rosa

Petaluma Fairgrounds - 175 Fairgrounds Drive, Petaluma

Petaluma Veterans Memorial Building - 1094 Petaluma Blvd. South., Petaluma

Large animals can be evacuated to the Sonoma County fairgrounds at 1350 Bennett Valley Road in Santa Rosa.

Buses are also being staged to take residents to the evacuation centers