By MADISON SMALSTIG, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Firefighters worked Sunday to defend containment lines around Napa County’s Pickett Fire, which has burned east from the outskirts of Calistoga to threaten settlements tucked near rough, mountainous terrain at the northern end of Pope Valley.
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The wildfire — the largest in the region this year — erupted Thursday and had burned at least 6,800 acres in a sparsely populated landscape within the burn scar of the 2020 Glass Fire. As of Sunday afternoon, containment remained at 11% and crews will likely remain assigned to the fire for at least another week, Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit Chief Matt Ryan said.
About 2,045 personnel, 140 engines, 34 bulldozers, 20 hand crews, 10 helicopters and 24 water tenders were assigned to the fire, where the focus was on holding and bolstering containment lines from Saturday, Cal Fire LNU spokesperson Jason Clay said Sunday.
Though the fire expanded 1,800 acres Saturday, the growth helped with firefighting, said Cal Fire’s Jeremy Pierce, operations section chief.
On the eastern front, firefighters were using rural routes including Butts Canyon Road to make their stand and protect scattered homes and the communities of Aetna Springs and Pope Valley.
On the western and northwestern flank, around Palisades Canyon, crews were assigned to maintain the lines and put out hot spots. To the east, on the fire’s most active front, firefighters were focused on setting up a line for a 52-acre section of steep country around Duvall Lake, about which half was still open, with flames backing downhill Sunday morning. On the southern front, there was little growth, and crews were snuffing out hot spots.
Amid the coordinated attack, the fire continued to expand Sunday, though its growth was not “significant” and was slower than previous days with similar weather conditions, according to Cal Fire officials.
Two evacuation orders — one on the southwestern foot of the fire, near its origin, and the other at its far northeastern corner east of Aetna Springs Road — were lifted Sunday afternoon, suggesting growing confidence in containment lines and more predictable fire behavior.
“I am not going to say we turned a corner on the fire, but the fact that we had similar conditions to the previous day without that larger acreage growth is a positive,” Cal Fire Capt. Robert Foxworthy said. “That’s absolutely good and a positive step in the right direction.”
South to southwest winds of up to 10 mph, and gusts up to 15 mph, still raised risk of flames funneling into canyons, however, and temperatures remained in the mid-90s. The winds had slightly calmed by early Sunday night, Foxworthy said.
The rugged geography, dry conditions and hot weather, “make sustained efforts crucial for containment,” according to Cal Fire.
“Yesterday, we had a pretty dynamic fire day,” Pierce said Sunday morning. “Today will be our turn day.”
Overnight, crews were looking at a slight rise in humidity, temperatures in the 60s and a pocket of hot dry air at elevations between 1500 to 2000 feet that could increase fire activity, said Cal Fire’s Alexander Giery, a fire behavior analyst.
On Monday, the area will heat to the mid- to upper-80s and the biggest threat will be burning materials that roll down the steep terrain to unburned fuels.
Cal Fire LNU officials hosted a 14-minute online community meeting Sunday night on their Facebook page to provide updates from the agency and the Napa County Sheriff’s Office.
Evacuation orders in place across a swath of the mountains east of Calistoga covered about 150 residents at their peak and now apply to about 50 to 100 residents, Napa Sheriff Oscar Ortiz said during the meeting. An evacuation hub was reopened Sunday at Calistoga Community Center for any evacuees in need, but no one showed up, Ortiz said.
Night fight for Aetna Springs
The Pickett Fire on Saturday saw some of its most explosive growth amid unstable atmospheric conditions, moving mostly toward Aetna Springs Road. Driven by afternoon and evening winds, the flames made a “hard push,” barreling out of the timber, down through the hills and to a flat area where the fire crept into vineyards and grass, Pierce said. There, crews were able to curb the flames and defend control lines.
To safeguard Aetna Springs and Pope Valley, fire crews conducted a controlled burn west of the road, according to a Cal Fire incident update.
Pierce was confident Sunday morning that crews could hold the line and make it “stay right where it is.”
There was one 30-acre spillover on the southwest side of fire. Air and nearby hand crews put out the flames, Pierce said.
Also, an unauthorized drone flying in the area of the fire — an illegal act — caused fire officials to ground air resources for about an hour, Clay said.
“Intrusions like this cause danger to your firefighting aircraft, and also impede our firefighting air efforts,” he said.
Overnight into Sunday, hand crews, bulldozers and five night-flying helicopters — a new addition to Cal Fire’s toolbox — fought moderate fire activity, defending containment lines.
Napa County Supervisor Anne Cottrell, who represents the affected area, visited three spots — Calistoga, Summit Lake Road and Aetna Springs — around the fire since it began on Thursday. At each of the locations, she peered at the fire’s footprint and saw the different techniques and tools firefighters use to stop or slow the flames, some of which started long before the fire sparked.
Dozer lines created with the county, Napa Communities Firewise Foundation and Napa Valley Vintners have both served as routes for fire resources and fuel breaks, Cottrell said.
As fire crews fought flames and prepared to face the afternoon winds, downtown Calistoga stores continued to serve customers, Cottrell said.
“Walking up and down Lincoln Avenue … shops had some of their items out on the sidewalk, there were people having lunch at the cafes,” Cottrell said. “That was good to see.”
The Calistoga community pool is also open, though workers were monitoring the air quality to see if it deteriorates to unsafe levels, according to a parks and recreation worker.
Cal Fire is assessing damage caused by the fire and has yet to confirm if any structures have been burned or destroyed.
The fire’s cause remains under investigation.
As of Sunday afternoon, evacuation orders remain in place for zones POP-E001-B, POP-E002-C, NPA-E114, NPA-E115, NPA-E121-B and C, NPA-E122-B, NAP-E107-B and NAP-E108-A.
By 3 p.m., the orders for NPA-E120, located on the western flank near the Pickett Fire’s origin, and POP-E001A, to the far northeastern side, were downgraded to warnings.
Areas still under an evacuation warning are NPA-E107-A, NPA-E121-A, NPA-E122-A, POP-E002-B and ANG-E001.
The Calistoga Community Center, at 1307 Washington St., reopened late Sunday morning as evacuation hub, Napa County said in an alert. It was last opened Thursday afternoon until about 8 p.m. The center offers air conditioning, charging stations and some light refreshments.
The Bay Area Air District extended an air quality advisory due to Picket Fire smoke through Monday for Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties. During this time, smoky, hazy skies can be seen and residents could smell smoke.
Cal Fire was continuing Sunday to operate its incident command center out of the Calistoga Fairgrounds, but is planning to move Monday to the Napa Valley Expo, Cottrell said. The larger space makes it easier for the agency to manage the number of firefighters on the response.
You can reach Staff Writer Madison Smalstig at [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @madi.smals.