'Fire fatigue': Evacuations hit wine country as blazes continue to overwhelm California
Napa County residents are being evacuated with more preparing to leave as the Glass Fire scorches through wine country amid a horrific fire season for the West Coast.
Evacuation orders were issued Tuesday as the wildfire expanded to 42,500 acres and zero percent containment over Napa and Sonoma counties, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. Authorities said the Glass Fire, which began overnight Sunday, has already destroyed 80 residences.
Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick warned Tuesday that many might be experiencing “fire fatigue” as the three-year mark of the devastating Tubbs fire looms. The 2017 Tubbs fire killed 22 people, destroyed more than 5,600 structures and burned around 36,800 acres.
“This is our fourth major fire in our community since 2017,” Essick said. “Many people are feeling the effects. Many people are evacuating who have evacuated multiple times.”
The Glass Fire began just before 4 a.m. Sunday and merged with two other fires, quickly expanding over the famed wine country region.
Authorities urged residents in the surrounding areas to remain vigilant and prepared, ready to evacuate as soon as orders to leave may come down. Residents located south of Chiles Pope Valley Road, east of Ink Grade Road, west of Pope Valley Cross Road and the entire town of Angwin have been ordered to leave as of Tuesday afternoon.
Though winds have eased and allowed for some hope of containing the spread of the flames, firefighters are still working around the clock to quell the blaze. First responders have split the response into two zones, with an east zone focused on Napa County and the west zone encompassing Sonoma County.
Drone footage captured the destruction surrounding Mountain Hawk Drive in Santa Rosa, about 60 miles north of downtown San Francisco, after flames from the Glass Fire roared through the neighborhood.
Three people were killed in the Zogg Fire, which ignited southwest of the city of Redding, a little over 200 miles away from the Glass Fire. The Zogg Fire is also zero percent contained and has burned more than 40,317 acres, based on the latest Cal Fire data.
California has seen the worst wildfire season in state history over the last few months with more than 3.7 million acres burned, 7,874 structures damaged and at least 28 killed so far, according to Cal Fire.
