Wild Horse Valley fire updates | Napa Valley Register

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Wild Horse Valley fire updates

Sunday, June 22, 2008

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By DAN ROSS
Register Online Staff

saturday's fire notes and comments from readers

CalFire's incident page on this fire

9 p.m.Check here throughout Sunday for updates of the Wild Horse Valley fire that broke out Saturday afternoon.

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9 p.m.

CalFire says not much has changed in the last three hours, with the fire still at about 3,500 acres and 35 percent contained.

One home was destroyed by the fire earlier today, as was one barn, but CalFire did not have the exact location of either at this time.

Green Valley Road remains a major area being watched, but the evacuation order is still just a voluntary one.

The Red Cross evacuation shelter at the Fairfield Community Center -- 1000 Kentucky St. -- is staying open because the residents on Twin Sisters Drive, Joyce Lane and the west side of Wooden Valley Road are under a mandatory evacuation order.

There should be one more update tonight, then the next would be around 6 a.m.

6 p.m.

Just came back from where fire crews and media are gathering on the Solano county side of the fire, at Suisun Valley School. Winds picked up around 5 p.m. and that area, near Mankas Corner, was pretty heavy with smoke.

Went over to Green Valley Road, where CHP has the road closed to all but resident traffic at the entrance to Green Valley Country Club. Where the winds were blowing east at Mankas Corner, the winds were more southwest in the Green Valley area.

Large billowing plumes of orange smoke can be seen working its way through the canyon from that vantage point. There's nowhere for people to go anywhere around the area, so please, folks, no driving up to try and see.

A CalFire spokesperson said people in the Green Valley Road and Green Valley Lane area people who have not left the area yet are reporting they can see flames on the hillside near their homes, but that area as of 6 p.m. is still a voluntary evacuation area.

CalFire indicates the fire is 35 percent contained, with no estimates for full containment.

2:30 p.m.

The fire is holding at about 3,500 acres, with 15 percent containment now reported by CalFire.

The upper portion of Green Valley Road, near the Green Valley Country Club, remains under a voluntary evacuation order. Mandatory evacuations are still in effect for Joyce Lane, Twin Sisters Road and Wooden Valley Road.

A Register reporter and photographer just returned frm the fire area, adding fire crews are saying the fire remains burning in the Solano County region.

Winds are not as strong as they were late yesterday, and the temperatures are down some as well. This should help firefighters working in the rather remote terrain.

12:30 p.m.

We are checking with CalFire in about 30 minutes for the next update, with another planned for 4 p.m., plus additional information as we receive it.

I just came back from the evacuation center in Fairfield. Doug, the Red Cross center manager, said things have been pretty quiet. About four families checked in since the center opened.

The Solano County Animal Shelter is going to house animals for up to three days for free for families evacuated and needing assistance with pets, Doug said. The shelter is open until 2 p.m. today, but working 24 hours a day with Red Cross to help out.

Contact Doug by going to the shelter, 1000 Kentucky Street in Fairfield -- look for the Red Cross van in the parking lot, go up to the building where that van is parked -- for any needs.

10:45 a.m.

For information on the fire, check here throughout the day, check the CalFire Web site link alongside this blog or call CalFire's information line at 707-967-4207 on what they have named the Wild fire.

Evacuation center is the Fairfield Community Center, 1000 Kentucky St.

Size of fire: 3,500-plus acres as of 8:30 a.m.

10 percent contained as of 10 a.m.

Structures threatened/damaged/lost: 66 homes threatened, 40 outbuildings. CalFire spokesperson said none lost, Web site states one home lost. We are working to clarify this.

10 a.m.

Fire up to more than 3,500 acres as of 8:30 a.m., according to CalFire.

Damage to one home in the fire, no homes destroyed. At one time, 66 homes and 40 outbuildings were threatened.

Fire is now burning towards the Green Valley area and the Twin Sisters Gun Club, having reversed course somehwat from the early morning hours when it was burning towards Napa County.

No mandatory evacuations at this time, but CalFire stated a voluntary evacuation of the higher areas of Green Valley Road around the country club is being advised at this time.

A fire break is being established near Lake Frey, bu CalFire says the fire is still a long way from that location.

No evacuation center set up at this time in Napa, but there is one in Fairfield at the community center, 1000 Kentucky Street. I am going there in a bit to see if anyone is around, as residents on Twin Sisters and Joyce are being allowed back in to the fire area to check on their residences, according to Napa's CalFire units.

1:15 a.m.

The fire is estimated by CalFire at more than 2,000 acres. There are wind gusts in the fire area at 35 mph, and CalFire reports the fire at 10 percent containment, with no estimate on when it will be fully contained.

Mandatory evacuation of the west side of Wooden Valley Road in Napa County went into effect about midnight, according to CalFire. Additional mandatory evacuation along that area from the Napa/Solano county line to mile marker 3.75, according to CalFire.

The fire was burning in the Solano County area, but turned back towards the Napa County area, CalFire stated, prompting the mandatory evacuation notice for the Wooden Valley Road area.

An evacuation center has been set up at the Fairfield Community Center, 1000 Kentucky Street, for people displaced due to the fire.

12:40 a.m.

The Wild Horse Valley fire is reported to be about 1,000 acres as of just before midnight, according to CalFire, with numerous road closures and a few mandatory evacuation areas.

CHP has Wooden Valley, Gordon Valley and Suisun Valley roads closed in the fire area.

CHP is listing Joyce Lane at Twin Sisters as a mandatory evacuation area as of 10:30 p.m. Additional evacuation areas include Twin Sisters Road, Julian Lane and Sleepy Hollow Lane in the fire area.

52 comment(s)

make napa better wrote on Jun 22, 2008 1:23 AM:

" You can see the fire now from south Target Parking lot. I don't live that far away... Scary! "

klodolce wrote on Jun 22, 2008 1:29 AM:

" We are at mile marker 1.00. We have not been told by anyone to evacuate. I only learned of the evacuation from your article. If we are to evacuate, it would be nice if we had been told. I would hope that the officials would tell us what is going on. We have been watching this since 4:30PM. We have just been told to leave. Wish us luck.

Kim LoDolce "

unicorn327 wrote on Jun 22, 2008 6:11 AM:

" Just checking in to see how everyone is doing? I have a client that lives up in that area and she doesn't hear very well. Can someone please update a more recent description of which way it seems to be traveling.....Thanks "

skippert wrote on Jun 22, 2008 8:06 AM:

" How are the Desimoni? Concerned Bush Family "

LMW wrote on Jun 22, 2008 8:40 AM:

" Air Quality...recommendation, indoor activities

All, please pray for this fire, fire fighters and families "

lovamom wrote on Jun 22, 2008 9:00 AM:

" i could see it in the middle of the night from Green Valley .. right up on the ridge line. .the smoke was so strong it woke me out of my sleep. "

MarkMiwords wrote on Jun 22, 2008 9:30 AM:

" Thanks to Dan Ross for staying up so late and keeping people informed. The tv. news stations can't keep up with the multiple fires in the state. This blog is probably the best way to get info. Thank you again, Dan. "

bloodagar wrote on Jun 22, 2008 10:24 AM:

" Is there an evacuation area set up for here in Napa? Has Green Valley Rd been mandated yet?

GREAT THANKS TO YOU DAN!!! KEEP UP THE STRENGTH AND KEEP US COMMENTING/UPDATING! SANDWICH REWARD!!!! "

napadad wrote on Jun 22, 2008 10:28 AM:

" channel 4 had the cal fire spokesman on and she puts it at 3500 acres moving south east. She said winds were at 8-15 mph, less than yesterday, and containment was 10%. there were 84 engines on scene and 250 + firefighters with more on the way. Here is a cal fire link http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=281
good luck to all you are in our thoughts "

Joe wrote on Jun 22, 2008 10:45 AM:

" The inmates in the above photo look like they are doing a good job. Inmate crews are the ones's that do most of the work getting fire's contained all over California. They hike all around the fire and cut line as they go in order to keep the fire contained. They should get more credit for their hard work. Maybe people who pray could pray for them too. "

gogojr1 wrote on Jun 22, 2008 11:10 AM:

" is there any news on homes being burnt or homes burning down..?

i hope not "

gogojr1 wrote on Jun 22, 2008 11:35 AM:

" "

napavalleyman wrote on Jun 22, 2008 11:47 AM:

" Thanks, Dan, for being so up on this, and for being so personally involved! "

JHutchings wrote on Jun 22, 2008 12:01 PM:

" We saw large flashes last night around 1:45 am in the general direction of the fire. It was not a lighting strike...it light up the whole sky like an explosion. My neighbor said he saw them too. Does anyone know what it is we saw?

Thanks, Julie "

mssryder wrote on Jun 22, 2008 12:13 PM:

" Thank you so much for this information. This is the best I have found anywhere. I did not hear about the voluntary evacuations in my area -- now the fire trucks are heading up our hill.

Please -- keep us informed! "

kkjp wrote on Jun 22, 2008 1:29 PM:

" This is the only local reporting. EXCELLENT JOB and thank you! Please continue to give us updates on the size and direction of the fire as you get updated information. "

WSGilcrest wrote on Jun 22, 2008 2:03 PM:

" Here's a screen cap from Google Earth with the MODIS active fire mapping loaded.

http://img508.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wildfireje2.jpg

While not complete, it will give you an idea of the fire's location. I've added a few placemarksd for reference. "

Baraki wrote on Jun 22, 2008 2:49 PM:

" Per Cal-Fire, now at 15% contained "

chunk wrote on Jun 22, 2008 3:21 PM:

" As a CalFire firefighter I have worked along side the inmate crews. They deserve a lot of credit for their hard work. Good Job. "

Erin94559 wrote on Jun 22, 2008 4:20 PM:

" I too am curious what that bright flash was in the early morning hour. As soon as it happened my entire neighborhood lost power. "

atver wrote on Jun 22, 2008 4:57 PM:

" The bright flash might have been a PGE transformer blowing. That would account for the power going out. "

Jenn wrote on Jun 22, 2008 5:14 PM:

" To the two that have asked about the flash of light, and the neighborhood loosing power. I had my windows opened and I heard a hum like noise that I have heard many times when a transformer blows. I too lost power. And I remember when we had the earthquake, how the sky lit up when the transformers went, so Im guessing that is what it was. Im up in Alta Heights neighborhood, closer to the linclon side.

Back to the fire, I hope that they can keep it from getting down to green valley. A family member has fire trucks on her property waiting for it to come down the valley. "

freeport56 wrote on Jun 22, 2008 7:06 PM:

" Nice work Dan. Kudos to the news crews. "

blogger wrote on Jun 22, 2008 8:24 PM:

" The end of Green Valley Rd is under mandatory evacuation as of a short while ago. Our hopes and prayers are with those leaving, and with those still being allowed to stay!

Thank you to all of the fire departments contributing! "

dolphin wrote on Jun 22, 2008 9:27 PM:

" Blogger: which "end" of Green Valley Rd is the mandatory evacuation taking place? I'm praying the winds will be in our favor and keep the fire from coming down further into the Green Valley. "

JHutchings wrote on Jun 22, 2008 9:59 PM:

" Thank you for the info on the flash of light. We are right next to Lakeview in Alta Heights, so our power is protected since it is on the same circuit as the water supply. We didn't have a power outage.
Please send a prayer up for Steve Hansen, Fire Fighter CDF and Suisun Valley Station...he is on the line tonight so we can sleep. Godspeed Steve...thank you and the brotherhood! "

silence dogood wrote on Jun 22, 2008 10:42 PM:

" Nice synergistic reporting: between the Register and the commenters. Cool stuff, keeping everyone informed. "

blogger wrote on Jun 23, 2008 4:32 AM:

" The terminal end of Green Valley Rd--I'm not too sure exactly how far up, but it's definately a couple houses at the end (I've got friends that live there). "

rusty wrote on Jun 23, 2008 5:59 AM:

" Great coverage. You are more current then local news 3, 10 & 5 and even Fire website which hasn't updated since 7 last night. Very smoky in lower Green valley this morning. Rancho Solano was being heavily smoked out last night. Can the person who posted that Google map yesterday update fire location? It's a great map. Very difficult area to "see" where fire is actually burning when you look at the hills from here. "

cathyodom wrote on Jun 23, 2008 7:22 AM:

" Thank you for your coverage. We went to Visalia this weekend and came back Sunday through 5/99/12. Saw lots of burnt out grass fires on the different highways over 4 hours of driving. Came back near Fairfield, saw the smoke, and immediately pulled up napavalleyregister.com on my Blackberry (Iphone had a dead battery!). Was able to read the article. Thanks Register for the coverage. Lots of smoke still this morning. "

Fleagirl wrote on Jun 23, 2008 7:35 AM:

" Dan--I really appreciate all these updates. The Napa Valley Register is a *much* better news source than the Fairfield Daily Republic. I'm down in the GV sub-division. Last night around 9pm everyone seemed to relax, un-hitching boats, etc. and the air quality was better. However, there were orange spots much lower on the hills and by 5am the smoke was heavy again. I can hear the planes and helicopters back at work. Wondering if I should stick around in case there's an evacuation or just go to work.... "

KMW wrote on Jun 23, 2008 8:31 AM:

" Took my teens to the college this morningaround 8 am and could see an orange glow in the smoke in a nitch in the eastern hills. Tuned into local radio and was shocked to hear that the fire was being discussed (or even mentioned) NOT AT ALL! Got to hear about local resident's golf scores, references to the Miss Napa contest, and interviews with a local band....my kid's mouths were hanging open! "

Green Valley Oaks Dr. wrote on Jun 23, 2008 9:14 AM:

" Thanks to the reporter and to those residents in Green Valley providing information. Can anyone in GV (perhaps from the highlands) indicate whether or not the fire actually entered the valley itself and what direction the fire is coming from? It is difficult to determine this from news reports, though the pressdemocrat.com did have a good article last night. "

gammachar wrote on Jun 23, 2008 9:32 AM:

" I saw on a "ticker" either on Ch 2 or Ch4 at 8:30 a.m. saying there is a fire in LakeCounty. I haven't heard a word. Hopefully that was a mistake. Does anyone know about this?

Thank you to ALL the Firefighters and ALL for all you do for the people.
have a great day. "

napamama wrote on Jun 23, 2008 9:55 AM:

" Also wanted to add that the Register is doing a GREAT job! I've been telling folks to go to this website for updates. "

blogger wrote on Jun 23, 2008 10:47 AM:

" Green Valley Oaks Dr- The fire did enter the valley and apparently came within 100 feet or so of one of the houses at the terminal end of Green Valley Rd (by the old Stage Coach trail). I'm friendly with the owner of that house, so I know this is true. However firefighters were able to fight it off and prevent any structural damage there. Voluntary evacuation remains in effect for Green Valley, with mandatory at the very terminal end of Green Valley Rd. THANK YOU to all the firefighters!!! "

Dan Ross wrote on Jun 23, 2008 11:54 AM:

" We have more updates coming, but there's some trouble right now getting the items posted to the actual story.
Gov. Schwarzenegger is giving a briefing right now, and we'll get you updates on that and from CalFire as soon as we can. "

csue wrote on Jun 23, 2008 12:18 PM:

" My friend, who lives near Wooden Valley Cross Rd, was told by CalFire at 9AM this morning that part of the fire has turned in the direction of WV Cross RD "

707jng wrote on Jun 23, 2008 1:06 PM:

" Thank you for the updates! "

chunk wrote on Jun 23, 2008 1:06 PM:

" Good job inmate crews. "

bloodagar wrote on Jun 23, 2008 1:24 PM:

" I have also been referencing this website for friends who live in the area but are currently out of state and had no clue that there was a fire.
Thank you to all who kept locals updated on the progression of the fire and incoming information! Kudos to Dan Ross. "

Dan Ross wrote on Jun 23, 2008 1:37 PM:

" This has been a team effort, with the work of staff like Kelly Doren, Brian Kennedy, Marsha Dorgan, Kerana Todorov, Carlos Villatoro, Lianne Milton, Jorgen Gulliksen and more.
The updates are slowing at this point, as the fire is not progressing much at all.
We will update when there's something new to report "

mssryder wrote on Jun 23, 2008 2:12 PM:

" Green Valley Highlands -- Earlier it appeared that we were out of danger, given the cool, calm weather overnight and this morning. The fire progression slowed and the number of firefighters & equipment have more than doubled since yesterday. Unfortuantely, the wind has really picked up. "

napagirl20 wrote on Jun 23, 2008 2:14 PM:

" Is there still a fire in Lake County? Dan mentioned one that was pretty big up there, and I haven't heard of anything about it since then... "

News_Chick wrote on Jun 23, 2008 3:06 PM:

" Wooden Valley Road is reopened on the Napa county side... "

bloodagar wrote on Jun 23, 2008 4:44 PM:

" Kelly Doren, Brian Kennedy, Marsha Dorgan, Kerana Todorov, Carlos Villatoro, Lianne Milton, Jorgen Gulliksen, Dan Ross and all the others: KUDOS to ALL of you! Great Job keeping us informed! "

Jenn wrote on Jun 23, 2008 7:34 PM:

" To answer questions about Lake County fire, yes there is a very large one up there. Cal Fire web site is reporting that it is at 8000 acres and 0% containment. If you use the link for the cal fire incident page that is above, click on the Walker fire for that information. Im just very glad right now that the fire didnt come down onto the homes of those on Green Valley Lane and Road. Family up there was very worried last night.

Thanks register staff for all the updates! You are all doign a great job! "

lahrgsp wrote on Jun 23, 2008 7:46 PM:

" Was there another fire near Wild horse on Friday? My sister swears this fire started Friday but everything says Saturday and I saw it right after it started. So I was thinking maybe there was another one??
DOING A GREAT JOB CALFIRE!!! "

Dan Ross wrote on Jun 23, 2008 9:28 PM:

" Sorry folks, but a couple posts got corrupted as we were trying to update as fast as we could.
Here's one, with the other being reposted in the next post from me.

luvit on 06/23/2008 10:51:08 said:
"Special thanks to Dan for great coverage. We have friends in all the affected areas and it is wonderful that our Napa Valley Register is so on top of it all. We are concerned about our friends and all the animals they have. It would be nice to know how we could help with the live stock and family pets. Is there a center where we could go to pick up animals to care for during the duration of this conflagration? We can haul horses, take dogs/cats/birds. Thanks." "

Dan Ross wrote on Jun 23, 2008 9:29 PM:

" and repost No. 2

mssryder on 06/23/2008 10:03:34 said:
"Green Valley Highlands -- it is quiet this morning, no fire trucks or lookieloos on the road above the golf course. Air traffic has resumed with drops. The smoke is thicker in Green Valley than it was yesterday, which tells me the winds have shifted a bit this way. TV news is not detailed enough for us to know what is happening close to us. Internet updates are slower than we would like. I'm going to drive down the valley and have a look back this way, that is the only way I can see how close the fire is. We have packed important papers & photos, in case of manditory evacuation.
Keep the postings coming -- If somebody can post a map to show the current location of the fire it would be very helpful." "

KT wrote on Jun 24, 2008 11:19 AM:

" I know for sure the Wild fire started early Saturday afternoon. I was an officer on one of the county engines dispatched shortly after the fire was located. We were dispatched around 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and the fire had been burning for maybe 2 to 3 hours prior to that.

There were no other "major" wildland fires in Napa county over the weekend that I am aware of, and none that started in Napa county on Friday that I heard. "

Local Yokel wrote on Jun 28, 2008 9:17 AM:

" Before this 'old news' story is dropped from these pages, I am very curious about the fact that so little has been said about the cause of this destructive fire. There was no lightening in that area on Saturday, but I have heard that locals are talking about the garbage cans on the road? "

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