A wildfire near the edge of Northern California’s Wine Country grew to 362 acres Monday, forcing the closure of part of Highway 128 and prompting evacuation warnings before firefighters gained some control of the blaze, officials said.
The Putah Fire was 15% contained Monday evening, Cal Fire’s Sonoma-Lake-Napa Unit said. The agency said cooler, wetter weather helped crews, but gusty winds and steep terrain continued to make the fire difficult to fight.
The fire started at 11:34 a.m. along Highway 128 west of Winters, a small city near the Solano-Yolo county line about 30 miles west of Sacramento and northeast of Napa Valley, Cal Fire said.
The blaze broke out in the same area where Cal Fire had scheduled a prescribed burn Monday. In dispatch audio reviewed by the Chronicle, the incident commander for the Highway 128 prescribed burn reported a 3- to 4-acre wildland fire burning uphill and immediately requested a large response from aircraft and ground crews.
Authorities had not publicly confirmed whether the wildfire escaped from the prescribed burn or how it started. Cal Fire listed the cause of the fire as under investigation Monday evening.
Highway 128 was closed in both directions from Lake Berryessa’s Monticello Dam because of the fire, according to the Napa County Sheriff’s Office. Watch Duty also reported that incident command had requested evacuation warnings for Golden Bear Estates and Bobcat Ranch.
Cal Fire said the fire was burning in steep, rugged terrain. Ten hand crews, helitack crews and seven dozers were working to build and strengthen containment lines, supported by air tankers dropping fire retardant and helicopters dropping water, the agency said.
A weather system moving through the area brought more cloud cover, light rain and higher humidity, which helped firefighters, Cal Fire said. Gusty winds, however, continued to challenge crews.
Earlier Monday, Watch Duty reported that Air Attack had requested additional helicopters because of fire growth and an immediate threat to structures. By early evening, multiple aircraft had been released, and a request for three night-flying helicopters and one helicopter coordinator had been canceled, according to Air Attack reports relayed by Watch Duty. One air attack aircraft, one tanker and one helicopter were requested for Tuesday morning, Watch Duty reported.
A state prescribed-fire listing showed the Highway 128 burn was approved for Monday, with Cal Fire as the managing agency, a “permissive” burn-day decision and a planned size of 45 acres. The listing described the area as mostly native grasses, with some non-native grasses and yellow star thistle. It said the burn would be contained between the highway and a mix of bulldozer line and hand line.
A National Weather Service forecast prepared for the prescribed burn called for west winds Monday afternoon, with gusts around 35 mph. Monday night gusts were expected to reach up to 39 mph.
No injuries or structural damage had been reported as of Monday evening.
Highway 128 runs through ranchland and recreation areas near Putah Creek and Lake Berryessa. The area sits near the edge of Northern California’s wine country and has seen repeated grass and vegetation fires during recent fire seasons.
Matthias Gafni and Anthony Edwards contributed to this report.
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