Firefighters on Friday appeared to have stopped the advance of a wildfire near Lake Berryessa that has scorched nearly 7,000 acres. While the blaze is no longer spreading, Cal Fire reports the Wragg Fire in Napa and Solano counties remains only 20 percent contained as of press time.
Watching from a distance, local fire crews considered it confirmation of their concerns as another dry summer wears on.
“That could be the Rivieras, that could be Hidden Valley Lake, that could be Cobb,” Lake County Fire Protection District Chief Willie Sapeta said, rattling off a list of nearby communities. “That same thing” — tinder-dry grass and rugged terrain — “is everywhere.”
The Wragg Fire started at 2:24 p.m. Wednesday in the area of Highway 128 and Wragg Canyon Road in Napa County.
Early reports indicated the fire started as the result of a vehicle accident, but the cause was still under investigation, according to Cal Fire.
By midnight Wednesday, the rapidly spreading fire had burned 5,000 acres and was only 5 percent contained. By 6 p.m. Thursday, the fire was at 6,900 acres, 15 percent contained.
Some 200 structures were threatened in the Quail Ridge community. The threat to structures north of Highway 128 has since been diminished, according to Cal Fire. By 2 p.m. Thursday, there was no new threat to more homes, Cal Fire public information officer Capt. Joe Fletcher said.
An outbuilding and tent trailer in Yolo County were destroyed overnight, and a structure in Solano County was damaged, Fletcher said.
Firefighting personnel continued to “aggressively work in treacherous terrain, providing structure defense and improving containment lines,” according to Cal Fire. The terrain is brush-covered, rugged and steep, with difficult access.
Erratic winds were also cited as a problem on Wednesday night.
Sapeta estimates that the current state of grasslands and forests puts Lake County “several months” ahead of the normal fire season pace and in danger of a similar blaze. Spots on rain in July only served to spur rapid grass growth and that grass, which he refers to as “fuel,” has since dried out.
“The fuels are scary this year,” Sapeta observed. “From here to Lakeport, look at the dead oaks, look at the dead pines. Each one is a candle waiting to go off.”
Joe Huggins, Chief of the Kelseyville Fire Protection District, agreed.
“It’s obvious we’re in the fourth year of a drought,” he said. “Everything is at a critical mass. It’s the same everywhere.”
Standing on the side of Pleasants Valley Road observing the Wragg Fire on Thursday, Fletcher pointed into the hills to a cluster of brown trees near the top of the ridge.
“At one point, the dead ones don’t have any water to give up, so it burns right up,” he said.
Closer to Pleasants Valley Road, bulldozers had dug contingency lines overnight, cutting off the grassy hill from a ditch on the side of the road that was full of dead weeds.
Fire crews drove into the hills to fight the fire, while additional crews were staged throughout the area, watching the fire and ready to strike if they spotted anything awry.
Cooled ashes were falling sparsely onto Pleasants Valley Road, though earlier, they had been falling heavily, Fletcher said.
Embers can travel up to a mile and catch houses on fire. Aircraft slow down the fire by dropping water and flame retardant, but ground crews stop it.
“Bulldozers and inmate hand crews are what put these types of fires out,” Fletcher said.
In the meantime, mandatory evacuations in the Golden Bear Estates Area in Yolo County and on County Road 87 were lifted on Thursday evening. Evacuations remained in place for the Quail Ridge community and Canyon Creek Area. By noon on Friday Highway 128 had been reopened to traffic.
“I was most proud to hear that when they were asked to evacuate, they did,” Sapeta said.
When people refuse to leave a home, firefighters are often forced to abandon their containment lines to focus on protecting a life. Another problem comes when spectators arrive to watch. Even if they stop at a distance, they can clog roads and slow down crews arriving on the scene.
Although many have warned about the threat of quickly spreading fires such as Wragg, Lake County has been lucky so far. Firefighters have pounced on most before they consumed more than an acre, with 7 acres being the most wildfire damage Sapeta has seen this season.
“We’ve been fortunate we haven’t had multiple fires pop up,” Huggins said, pointing out that this has allowed the districts to concentrate resources. “But we’re not out of the woods yet.”
Lake County’s fire districts routinely commit four or five pieces of equipment to smoke checks, just in case something bigger might erupt.
“We’re at the top of our situational awareness,” Sapeta said.
Once a fire spreads, as in Napa County, the resources necessary to contain it can be significant. In all, 1,372 fire personnel were working on the Wragg blaze by Thursday night, including 118 engine/truck companies, 41 fire crews, 24 bulldozers, 14 water tenders, 13 helicopters, four air tankers, 10 volunteer companies and 150 overhead personnel. Similar numbers remained on the scene Friday.
The fire had burned in a southern direction overnight on Thursday, but crews had spent Wednesday night and continued on Thursday to keep the fire on the eastern and northern slopes of the ridge, above the houses in Mix Canyon and Gates Canyon.
“That fire in Mix Canyon didn’t burn everything up,” Fletcher said, referring to the Sky Fire, which burned 150 acres in the Mix Canyon area earlier this month. “So we want to keep it out of there.”
By Friday crews had successfully worked to keep flames away from the dry western side of the ridge, which is exposed to more sun.
At the Red Cross emergency evacuation shelter set up at the Winters Community Center, which opened around 8 p.m. Wednesday, 17 people had registered, according to Emergency Services Volunteer Don Walker.
Those people could stay as long as they wanted to eat meals, charge their cell phones and stay overnight if they wished, he said. A few local hotels were offering free rooms as well, he added.
People have come in for shelter and food, but also to get information from Cal Fire and ask questions. A Cal Fire representative was briefing those at the shelter twice a day, morning and night.
“It’s horrible to be away from your home,” Walker said.
Assemblyman Bill Dodd, D-Napa, issued a statement advising residents to stay safe.
“Right now the safety of our residents is my most important concern,” he said. “As local firefighters and emergency responders continue their attempt to control this wildfire, I want to urge the residents of my district to take the proper precautions to ensure their safety.”
Sapeta explained that a quick response is key to saving lives and homes.
“If you see smoke, call it in,” he said, adding that he would rather have crews arrive on scene to find a barbecue than miss a spark that leads to an event life the Wragg Fire.
“It’s early recognition,” he said. “Call it in, follow evacuation orders and don’t bottle up the road.”
Jessica Rogness is a writer with the Vacaville Reporter
