The so-called Kincade Fire in Sonoma County ignited Wednesday night and by early Thursday morning, the fire had exploded, devouring over 10,000 acres – forcing the evacuation of up to 2,000 residents. The entire population of the small town of Geyserville, numbering about 862 people, was also forced to evacuate.
The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that while the cause of the fire is unknown at this time, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) officials said that high-voltage power transmission lines — the kind of equipment that started last year’s devastating Camp Fire – was operating in the area at the time the fire started.
Distribution lines into the area had already been shut down because of high winds, the officials added. “We are investigating the potential impact on our equipment,” PG&E spokesman Paul Doherty told The Chronicle in an email. The company said its criteria to shut off high-voltage lines, which carry electricity to many people across long distances, was not met.
Incident commander Mike Parkes, with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the fire started Wednesday night near The Geysers, the world’s largest geothermal field where nearly two dozen power plants draw steam from more than 350 mountain wells to create electricity.
The fire started about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday night on John Kincade Road and by dawn had destroyed or damaged at least a dozen homes and other structures along Geysers Road, including at least two large buildings at Crazy Creek Vineyards in the Alexander Valley.
Not good…SonomaCounty CaliforniaFires g2VTHZyW52
— Andy Wasklewicz (@calisurf) October 24, 2019
Parkes added that the fire was fueled overnight by 60 mph (95 kph) winds and as of Thursday afternoon, the fire had crept up to the eastern edge of Geyserville. Rugged terrain made accessing the fire difficult. Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick had to plead with people to leave the area because some refused to heed the evacuation orders.
“Please heed our evacuation order,” he said in a televised news conference. “We really need to be able to fight the fire, rather than worrying about rescuing you.”
“We expect the fire to grow,” Parkes said, according to CNN News, adding that authorities anticipate updating the acreage burned later in the day after they have a better opportunity to map the fire. They are confident, he added, that the fire is probably “at or above 10,000 acres.”
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— PG&E (@PGE4Me) October 24, 2019
The Kincade Fire is 0-percent contained at this time. It has also burned through a portion of the Geysers geothermal plant in the Mayacamas Mountains. PG&E had shut off power to parts of Sonoma and other Northern California counties Wednesday afternoon in an effort to prevent fires from being sparked by power lines damaged or downed by strong winds.
