Kincade Fire growth slows, 45 percent contained

By Wednesday evening, Cal Fire reports that containment of the Kincade Fire climbed to 45 percent. The blaze’s growth slowed on Tuesday, now encompassing an area roughly 76,825 acres.

The state fire agency estimates that over 90,000 structures are threatened by the burn, including more than 80,000 homes, with 206 buildings destroyed since the fire began last week.

All previous evacuation orders are still in effect. Anyone trying to reach evacuees or find the nearest evacuation center can consult the most up to date list below:

• Santa Rosa Fairgrounds, 1350 Bennett Valley Road, Santa Rosa
• Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building, 1351 Maple Avenue, Santa Rosa
• Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds, 175 Fairgrounds Road, Petaluma
• Petaluma Veterans Center, 1094 Petaluma Boule, Petaluma
• Large Animal Evacuation site: Santa Rosa Fairgrounds

The Kincade Fire has moved toward two unincorporated communities north of Santa Rosa. Evacuation orders remain in place for a wide swath of Sonoma County stretching from Highway 101 to the Pacific Ocean as the wildfire continues to rage in powerful winds.

The fire, which has burned more than 75,400 acres since Wednesday, has jumped to 15 percent contained.

So far, 96 structures have been destroyed—at least 31 of them homes. And two wineries in Alexander Valley, including the 150-year-old Soda Rock Winery, were obliterated in the fire.

Mandatory evacuations remain in effect for over 200,000 people in Windsor, Healdsburg, Sebastopol, and other communities between Highway 101 and Pacific Coast Highway.

According to KTVU, this is the largest mass evacuation in the county’s history.

On Saturday night, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) started shutting down power for nearly one million customers, or over 2.3 million people, some of whom were forced to evacuate in the dark.

PG&E revealed to state regulators Thursday that a jumper on one of its transmission towers broke near near where the Kincade Fire began. While the utility company planned intentional blackouts in the area due to fire danger, some of its power transmission were still on before the fire ignited, according to ABC 7.

“We didn’t see the wind speeds in the forecast that we typically would see for transmission outage,” said PG&E CEO and President Bill Johnson in a statement. “We relied on the the protocol and we still at this point do not know exactly what happened.”

As of Saturday night, 77 structures have burned, including 31 homes. There have been no reports of any fatalities.

Evacuation centers can be found at:

1. Marin County Fairgrounds—opens for evacuees and their small animals at 8 a.m. on Sunday, 10/27. (10 Ave. of the Flags, San Rafael)
2. Napa Valley College (2277 Napa Vallejo Hwy, Napa)
3. CrossWalk Community Church Napa (2590 1st St Napa)
4. Alameda County Fairgrounds—accepting large animals (4501 Pleasanton Ave, Pleasanton)
5. *Sonoma County Fairgrounds—at capacity, please go to one of the other shelters (1350 Bennett Valley Rd, Santa Rosa
6. *Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building—at people capacity, please go to one of the other shelters (1351 Maple Avenue, Santa Rosa)
7. Petaluma Veterans Building – No empty beds, but can be a meeting point for evacuees (1094 Petaluma Blvd S, Petaluma)
8. *Petaluma Community Center—at capacity (320 N McDowell Blvd, Petaluma)
9. *Petaluma Fairgrounds—at capacity, only accepting large animals (100 Fairgrounds Dr, Petaluma)
10. *Finley Community Center—evacuated, please go to one of the other shelters. (2060 West College Avenue, Santa Rosa)

The following schools have closed until further notice:

• Alexander Valley School District
• Cloverdale Unified School District
• Geyserville Unified School District
• Healdsburg Unified School District
• Whited Elementary (Rincon Valley Union School District)
• Binkley Elementary (Rincon Valley Union School District)
• Madrone Elementary (Rincon Valley Union School District)
• Sequoia Elementary (Rincon Valley Union School District)
• Rincon Valley Charter School, Sequoia campus (Rincon Valley Union School District)
• Austin Creek Elementary (Rincon Valley Union School District)
• Hidden Valley Elementary (Santa Rosa City Schools District)
• Santa Rosa Accelerated Charter (Santa Rosa City Schools District)
• Rincon Valley Middle (Santa Rosa City Schools District)
• Maria Carrillo High School (Santa Rosa City Schools District)

Airbnb has activated its Open Homes Program for Kincade Fire evacuees wherein hosts who are willing to provide free housing with displaced residents and disaster relief workers in the activation area can sign up.

Curbed SF will continue to update as the story unfolds.