Old fire near Geyserville burns 1.8 acres

Firefighters Tuesday morning had reached 60% containment battling the 1.8-acre Old fire burning in the wind-whipped hills east of Geyserville, according to Cal Fire.

The blaze was first reported at about 9:55 p.m. Monday off Big Geysers Road.

Despite the National Weather Service reporting consistent gusts above 80 mph in the region, flames did not appear to spread significantly overnight.

Fire officials said early Tuesday morning that no structures were threatened.

The fire was initially reported at 10 acres Monday night. Cal Fire was unable to immediately say why the acreage was downgraded to under 2 aces by Tuesday morning.

At least six engines, four water tenders and three hand crews were sent in an initial call.

PG&E representatives and Healdsburg officials reported that power equipment in the area had been damaged by the winds and utility crews were on hand making repairs.

No planned power shut-offs were issued for the region, though PG&E had warned customers that it expected overnight winds could lead to some outages across the North Bay.

PG&E spokeswoman Deanna Contreras said that although wind gusts reached close to triple-digit speeds at some North Bay peaks, neither humidity levels nor the amount of moisture held in vegetation dropped low enough to trigger shut-offs, which are meant to prevent the utility’s equipment from sparking wildfires.

“Due to the recent and rain and humidity, it did not meet the threshold to shut off power anywhere in the Bay Area,” Contreras said.

No cause was given for the start of the blaze.

You can reach Staff Writer Ethan Varian at ethan.varian@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5412. On Twitter @ethanvarian