50,000 People Ordered to Flee Kincade Fire as High Winds Forecast

More than 50,000 residents near the Kincade Fire in California’s Sonoma County were placed under mandatory evacuation orders on Saturday, October 26, as high winds, forecast for the evening, raised the risk that the fire could spread swiftly.

Crews from numerous areas were fighting the blaze. This footage, shared by firefighters from Camp Parks in Dublin, California, shows a strike team made up of several fire crews battling flames on Friday.

On Saturday morning, the National Weather Service said, during a joint 10 am press conference with police and fire officials, said northeasterly wind speeds of 40 mph, and gusts between 60 to 80 mph, were forecast in the area from 8 pm, significantly raising the risk that the fire could move rapidly towards homes. Residents in the cities of Windsor and Healdsburg, and nearby areas, were ordered to evacuate.

Multiple officials from various agencies and towns reiterated the seriousness of the threat during the conference. Among them was Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick, who said the decision to evacuate more than 50,000 people was not “taken lightly.” He warned that the winds would be similar to those experienced during devastating wildfires in Sonoma County in October 2017.

Essick and other officials urged people to evacuate immediately and to stay out of the way of first responders. Evacuations centers had been established in Santa Rosa and Petaluma, Essick said.

The fire, which had burned through more than 25,000 acres over two days and was 10 percent contained as of Saturday morning, was one of several burning throughout California. Electricity supplier PG&E warned on Saturday that it could cut power to around 940,000 customers across 36 counties over the weekend to decrease fire risk. Credit: Camp Parks Firefighters F-305 via Storyful