Firefighters shift focus to Dry Creek Valley as winds change

6:42 PM: Changing winds cause for concern for firefighters; 12,000 in Sonoma County have been told to evacuate

Firefighters and air tankers battling the Walbridge fire on Friday focused their efforts on areas along Dry Creek and Westside roads east of the blaze in anticipation of a changing wind pattern that may push flames in that direction by Saturday, Cal Fire Division Chief Ben Nicholls said during a Friday news briefing.

Fire crews also continued to monitor Westside Road between Sweetwater Springs Road, located north of Guerneville, and Mill Creek Road, the primary path the fire was headed Friday, Nicholls said.

“With the winds we’re having, the Dry Creek Valley through the Wallace Creek drainage becomes the most intense segment in the fire line that we’re dealing with” Nicholls said.

Firefighters on the Lightning Complex, which includes the Walbridge fire and the larger Hennessey fire in Napa County, have boosted their ranks by 500 fire personnel since Thursday, Cal Fire Incident Commander Sean Kavanaugh said during the briefing.

Fire personnel assigned to the Lightning Complex blazes, including command staff and other workers, totaled about 1,430 people as of Friday night, Cal Fire said. Still, the complex’s large size and the possible change in wind direction were of concern, Kavanaugh said.

“We've got to be on our toes,” Kavanaugh said.

The number of people told to evacuate their homes in Sonoma County totaled roughly 12,000 people Friday afternoon, 4,000 more than the total Wednesday, Sonoma County Emergency Management Director Chris Godley said during Friday’s news briefing.

An additional 8,800 in unincorporated Sonoma County have been warned to gather their belongings in case they needed to leave, Godley said.

The town of Healdsburg, located west of the Walbridge fire, remained under an evacuation warning first issued Wednesday night. That advisory impacted roughly 11,600 people, Godley said.

5:50 PM: Sonoma Water releases map of Walbridge fire’s estimated perimeter

Sonoma Water has released a map of the Walbridge fire’s progression based on satellite data. Sonoma County Supervisor James Gore noted in a Facebook post that this version is not Cal Fire’s official fire perimeter map.

4:45 PM: Cal Fire, Geyserville and American Canyon firefighters combat the Walbridge fire

Reporter Will Schmitt continues reporting along the eastern front of the fire. Follow along on Twitter at @Wsreports.

3:45 PM: Videos show Walbridge fire roaring near Chemise Road

Reporter Will Schmitt is reporting near Chemise Road, about 2 1/2 miles from West Dry Creek Road. Here’s what he saw:

3 PM: Lightning Complex fire smoke continues to pollute Bay Area

Smoke from the Lightning Complex fires continued to contaminate Sonoma County and the greater Bay Area Friday afternoon.

Pollution levels measured in portions of south Sonoma County down to San Francisco, and surrounding areas along the coast, were considered unhealthy for people with respiratory diseases and other sensitive groups, The Bay Area Air Quality Management District said. Those people were cautioned to limit their time outdoors.

Further south in the Santa Clara Valley and in the East Bay, air pollution was more severe and deemed unhealthy for all people, regardless of any underlying respiratory issues, the air quality district said.

Children and people with respiratory diseases in those areas should avoid going outside, and others should limit their time outdoors.

A Spare the Air Alert, which bans wood burning of any kind, remained in effect through Sunday, the district said.

2:30 PM: Sonoma County supervisors adopt emergency proclamation, warn of malfunctioning alerts

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors on Friday adopted a local emergency proclamation made earlier this week by staff members, a procedural step that makes mutual aid and emergency state funding more readily available.

The elected board also got a brief update on the county’s response this week managing evacuations in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as how effectively information has been going out.

County Emergency Management Director Chris Godley said the federal wireless emergency alert service that is sent to every phone in a targeted location is “no longer functioning,” and has been sending alerts to much wider areas than they wanted.

One alert sent Friday morning erroneously linked to information from the Kincade fire last fall, causing widespread confusion, he said. Other channels like Nixle and SoCo Alert have been working as planned.

1:25 PM: Video shows two flanks of the Walbridge fire

Reporter Phil Barber shares what he saw as he looked toward Armstrong Woods in Guerneville on Friday:

1:10 PM: Scenes from the Walbridge fire

Reporter Tyler Silvy spent his day Thursday reporting from the fire scene north of Guerneville. Here’s what he saw:

1 PM: Expanded evacuation warnings for West Marin communities due to fire in Point Reyes

Marin County authorities have significantly expanded evacuation warnings due to the Woodward fire burning in the Point Reyes National Seashore.

West Marin communities now under evacuation warnings include Olema, Inverness and Bolinas. The warning also covers a majority of the national seashore.

As of Friday morning, the lightning-sparked fire had burned 2,100 acres and was 0% contained.

11:40 AM: Expanded evacuation orders for Forestville area and Lake Sonoma due to Walbridge fire

Authorities have significantly expanded mandatory evacuation orders in the Forestville area and areas east of Lake Sonoma to near the Mendocino County line.

Around Forestville, evacuation orders have been issued for areas south of River Road from Martinelli Road to the intersection of River Road and Trenton Road; west of Covey Road; North of Front Street or Highway 116; and east of Martinelli Rd.

Near Lake Sonoma, evacuation is now mandatory in areas north of Stewarts Point Skaggs Springs Road to the eastern edge of Lake Sonoma.

The western boundary of that evacuation area runs north along the ridge line from the intersection of Stewarts Point Skaggs Springs Road and Old Stewarts Point Skaggs Springs Road; to the intersection of Rockpile Road and Cooley Ranch Road; north to near the Mendocino County line

View an interactive map of current evacuation zones here.

11:20 AM: New fire weather watch issued for Bay Area due to possible thunderstorms this weekend

The National Weather Service - Bay Area issued a new fire weather watch alert Friday morning due to possible thunderstorms this weekend that could spark additional fires in the region.

The fire watch will be in effect for the entire Bay Area, including the North Bay, from Sunday morning through Tuesday morning.

The service said initial scattered dry thunderstorms could develop Sunday afternoon into Monday morning. A second round of storms is expected to arrive later Monday into Tuesday.

In the alert message, the service said “lightning will likely spark new fires across the region, including remote areas.”

10:20 AM: Some evacuation orders lifted in Napa County near Calistoga

Authorities have lifted evacuation orders for the portion of the Silverado Trail between Rosedale Road and Highway 29.

Evacuation orders remain in effect for Highway 29 from the Silverado Trail to the Lake County line, excluding the area within the Calistoga city limits.

Fire crews are still active in the vicinity, and only local residents will have access to the area.

10:15 A.M. Board of Supervisors to meet; emergency declaration expected

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors will hold a virtual meeting at 1 p.m. Friday to consider declaring a local emergency due to the ongoing wildfires that so far remain uncontained.

The meeting comes with assurances from Congressman Jared Huffman that he and Rep. Mike Thompson are prepared to work on behalf of the county to seek federal disaster aid for Sonoma and neighboring counties battling the LNU Lightning Complex fires.

“I am ready to move forward very quickly on supporting any request for federal assistance should the damage from these fires rise to the level of a major disaster,” Huffman, D-San Rafael, said during a community meeting Thursday night.

He said he and Thompson “have a letter already drafted, in fact.”

Sonoma County Board Chairwoman Susan Gorin assured him the county would be asking for resources.

9:50 AM: Power shut off in evacuated area near Healdsburg

Electricity was shut off last night for the area from West Dry Creek Road between Westside Road to Yoakim Bridge, county officials said. The area is currently under evacuation orders.

The outage may impact the county’s ability to alert some residents of further evacuation orders, officials said.

9 AM: New evacuation orders for Forestville area due to Walbridge fire

Authorities have expanded mandatory evacuation orders to residents in areas located south of the Russian River; east and north of Highway 116; and west of Martinelli Road.

Evacuation warnings have been issued for areas east and north of Green Valley Road; and south and west of Highway 116.

Evacuation warnings have also been issues for areas north of Guerneville Road; east of Covey Road and Highway 116; west of Laguna Road; and south of River Road

Residents of Drake Road and Odd Fellows Park are instructed to use eastbound Highway 116 to evacuate.

Residents of Summer Home Park are instructed to take Forest Hills Road to Eastbound River Road to Evacuate

A list of areas under evacuation orders in Sonoma County as of Friday morning were available on the Sonoma County sheriff’s Nixle page. View an interactive map and search by address here.

8:15 AM: 3-19 fire in Potter Valley 100% contained

The 3-19 fire in Potter Valley in Mendocino County had burned 62 acres and was fully contained as of Friday morning, Cal Fire reports.

One outbuilding structure was destroyed in the blaze.

Fire crews will check on the area throughout the next few days as a precaution

8 AM: Red fire in Redwood Valley 100% contained

The Red fire in Redwood Valley in Mendocino County had burned close to 15 acres and was fully contained as of Friday morning, Cal Fire reports.

No structures were damaged or destroyed in the blaze.

Fire crews will check on the area throughout day as a precaution.

7:45 AM: Creek fire near Covelo 90% contained

The Creek fire near Covelo in Mendocino County had burned 820 acres and was 90% contained as of Friday morning, Cal Fire reports.

Two outbuilding structures have been destroyed in the blaze.

Fire crews will continue looking for hot spots in the area.

7:20 AM: Fires continue to grow overnight

The group of lightning-sparked fires in Sonoma, Napa, Lake, Solano and Yolo continued to grow overnight, reaching 219,067 acres burned as of Friday morning, according to Cal Fire.

That’s an increase from 215,000 acres burned by Thursday night, and 131,000 acres as of Thursday morning.

The Walbridge fire west of Healdsburg had burned 21,125 acres and was 0% contained as of Friday morning. The Meyers fire north of Jenner had burned 3,000 acres and was 0% contained.

In Napa County, the Hennessey fire, the largest blaze, grew to 194,942 acres and was 7% contained.

7 AM: 3 more wildfire deaths

Cal Fire officials confirmed three new deaths in the wildfires in Napa County, bringing the death toll to four in the LNU Lightning Complex fires. The other death was in Solano County.

A PG&E employee who died assisting fire crews near Vacaville is not being counted in the fatality total, said Cal Fire spokesman Scott Ross.

Ross could not immediately provide any more information on the deaths.

The group of lightning-sparked fires in Sonoma, Napa, Lake, Solano and Yolo counties had burned 215,000 as of Thursday night, an increase from 131,000 acres burned by Thursday morning.

A total of 480 structures had been destroyed and 125 damaged.

Further details are expected with a full Cal Fire update soon.

In Sonoma County, the Walbridge fire west of Healdsburg had burned 20,000 acres and was 0% contained as of Thursday night. The Meyers fire north of Jenner had burned 3,000 acres and was 0% contained.

In Napa County, the Hennessey fire, the largest blaze, had burned 192,000 acres and was 0% contained.

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