No major fires overnight in North Bay; dry conditions continue through Tuesday

The most dangerous burst of fire weather conditions in the North Bay this year menaced residents overnight Sunday, but no major fires were reported as the winds weakened by Monday morning.

Local fire crews extinguished several small brush fires that broke out in Sonoma County during the early morning hours Monday, including at least two that were caused by either sparking transformers or power lines, fire officials said.

Firefighters contained blazes north of Healdsburg, near the Parkland Farms neighborhood, as well as in Windsor and in Twin Hills, southwest of Sebastopol.

Two fires in east Santa Rosa, on Violetti Road by Spring Lake, and at the intersection of Summerfield Road and Sonoma Avenue were contained at less than a quarter-acre, said Jason Jenkins, a battalion chief with the Santa Rosa Fire Department.

A sparking transformer damaged by tree limbs likely caused the fire on Violetti Road, he said. A spot fire along Pleasant Avenue in Windsor was started by trees that fell onto power lines, said Cyndi Foreman, fire marshal for the Sonoma County Fire Protection District.

Firefighters suspected an illegal campfire in Howarth Park may have started the blaze along Summerfield Road.

No road closures or significant damage were reported, Jenkins said.

The National Weather Service and fire officials cautioned that severe fire conditions would continue until a red flag warning expires at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.

Higher elevations across the North Bay saw sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph overnight Sunday, said weather service meteorologist David King. The strongest gusts atop Mount St. Helena were recorded at 89 mph.

At lower elevations, winds were steady around 30 mph, King said. Conditions were so dry that humidity levels reached the single-digits.

“It looks like for now, as best as I can tell, it’s looking like we got through this,” King said. “But at the same time it’s going to be gusty throughout the day. We’re not out of the woods yet.”

A small flare-up in the Glass fire perimeter was also knocked down, Cal Fire spokesman Will Powers said.

Cal Fire had bolstered its forces across the region and strategically placed crews so it could quickly respond to any incident, Powers said.

While conditions may have improved on valley floors by Monday morning, higher elevations remained threatened where humidity was low and winds were still gusting.

“We’re still on alert until this wind event is fully over and we’re out of the red flag,” Powers said. “We’ll be patrolling and keeping services bolstered until we’re all the way out of it.”

Foreman shared the sentiment. She was encouraged that on a busy night, responding to small fires in Guerneville, Windsor and east Santa Rosa, firefighters were never overwhelmed.

“A big component was all of the upstaffing here in the district, but also the county at-large,” she said. “The prepositioned strike teams … were able to get out the door and hit these incidents hard and keep them small. We’ll continue that through tonight and into tomorrow morning.”

Hazardous road conditions were reported throughout the night countywide, and could be dangerous to residents navigating areas recently burned by wildfires, she said. Firefighters cleared a road near Chalk Hill where the Kincade fire burned above Windsor one year ago. A response was also needed at Petrified Forest near Calistoga Road in the Glass fire perimeter.

“We don’t want people to let their guards down,“ Foreman said.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said 23,464 residential and commercial customers in Sonoma County had their power shut down by 6 p.m. Sunday. Electricity should be restored by 10 p.m. Tuesday. The majority were in unincorporated areas, although about 1,960 were in Santa Rosa.

An estimated 46,000 local residents were affected by the blackout.

The shut-off forced school cancellations Monday for students in the Guerneville, Kenwood and Montgomery Elementary school districts, according to the Sonoma County Office of Education.

Students at Monte Rio Union School District were limited to self-guided learning, with no virtual classes, SCOE said.

You can reach Staff Writer Yousef Baig at 707-521-5390 or yousef.baig@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @YousefBaig.