The fire expanded to west of highway 101. Weve talked about it jumping the highway, in the northeast santa rosa neighborhood near the kohls store at coffee lane and hopper avenue, the northernmost residential area in santa rosa, there are several structure fires there. Cross creek road, sky farm drive, st. Andrews drive, all residents north of Fountain Grove park way, montecito heights, those are all mandatory evacuation areas. Residents need to heed Evacuation Orders according to the city of santa rosa. Evacuation means you need to leave immediately. Please gather personal belongings, pets and go to the Findlay Community center at 2060 west College Avenue. That is a shelter that is set up for those people. The fire is believed to have started near highway 128 there in napa county and this progressed to santa rosas city limits. Theyre also asking you not to call 911 unless you are reporting an active fire near your area and youre in immediate danger. They dont want phone calls going into 911 because they are inundated. Were also being told the petaluma Community Center is also a shelter, so several shelters are being set up all around in this area. Youve got the silverado trail closed, canyon residents were told to evacuate several hours ago. That fire ripping through that area and we were told that a lot of harrowing evacuations in that area as people were being forced to leave. We saw fire around wineries. Several wineries are burning and a lot during this harvest time, so obviously a lot going on right now, and a lot of evacuations, several fires. Im going to need my producer to tell me again what all right, so we just want to make sure that were telling you everything thats going on here. Weve got several fires burning in Sonoma County and also in santa rosa area and napa county, and they are dealing obviously with windy conditions that we really havent seen in a long time with these dry conditions, so obviously a big issue for firefighters getting into areas with trees being knocked down, power lines being knocked down, dangerous conditions for driving, people are being forced to evacuate areas, countless areas being forced to evacuate from calistoga, napa, santa rosa, all those areas in the hills there above napa are being forced to evacuate. So if you get those orders to evacuate, theyre being told dont wait. Dont make those firefighters go back and tell you again, because thats a waste of time for them. Theyve got other things that they need to tend to, and they want people to obviously leave as soon as they let them know. Were going to check in with drew again and drew, were still talking about those winds. What are we looking at right now . Matt just the east bay hills camera is shaking back and forth. These winds are just so active at this hour. Just show you where were at right now. The winds at 38 Miles Per Hour in napa, 39 in fairfield. They continue to be rather gusty in the north bay. 36 the current wind gust in santa rosa and this is one of the main reasons why the fires are so chaotic at this hour. The winds are just so strong right now that the fires can easily jump around and that is what were seeing at this hour, even winds are guting in the east bay right now at 39 Miles Per Hour. I just want to emphasize this point once again. We are having more people who are waking up, theyre smelling smoke. The reason why we are tracking several fires in the north bay right now, and the wind direction is pushing that smoke from the north bay and moving it south, sinking it south across the entire bay area, and thats why a lot of us you may be waking up to the smell of smoke where you live, because we have all of these active fires that are creating the smoky skies and that wind is pushing that smoke to the south. One of the regions we are watching around santa rosa, an area under a manned tire evacuation by Fountain Grove parkway. The winds are so strong where this fire is located winds northeast 24 Miles Per Hour gusting to 53 Miles Per Hour right now, relative humidity is bone dry and actually you can see live doppler 7 typically when you see greens and yellows on our screen were talking about rain but live doppler 7 with the active sweep can pick up on smoke particles in the region and that is what were seeing, smoke particles around santa rosa and in the vicinity where that Evacuation Order is under way. As you can see live doppler 7 giving thaw active sweep updating you showing you that smoke emanating from parts of the north bay. This is one of the first locations that we were tracking late last night, atlas peak road where one of the fires is right now, similar story that relative humidity could not be any lower essentially in our neck of the roads, thats 16 , that is very dry atmosphere and the winds right now out of the northeast at 14, but this is the problem. Theyre gusting to 32 Miles Per Hour and the winds are just going to hamper those activities by firefighters early this morning as theyre trying to get a handle on these fires. The winds over the next 24 hours its rather active through the Morning Hours. Here is your time stamp below, 4 00 later in the morning, wind gusts 29, 30 Miles Per Hour, similar story by 7 00 in the morning. Its later in the morning, this is going to be the key time for firefighters, the winds are going to calm down, theyll gradually drop below 10 Miles Per Hour and once they do later on today, by about noon 1 00, the winds will calm down and stay calm and this is going to help firefighters. Is what were waiting for when the winds relax and firefighters will be able to handle the situation even better than they are right now under these active winds. In our hills its breezy as well, 37mileperhour in spring valley, okayland hill at 36 and atlas peak the wind gust to 32 Miles Per Hour and in knoxville creek earlier a wind gust to 50 Miles Per Hour so thats why were having those issues in the north bay with those fires, not only spreading quickly but hopping over highways at this hour. We had that happen in 101 around santa rosa, where the fire jumped the highway line. Future tracker wind gusts we want to show you this map. We cant show it to you enough. This is the time line of the winds throughout the day today, 4 00 later on today about an hour and a half from now we dont expect much change in the wind speed in the north bay, really strong winds 36 Miles Per Hour in fairfield, likely seeing stronger wind gusts around santa rosa around 44 Miles Per Hour and by 7 00 in the morning o outside of the north bay the winds are going to generally calm down but still the north bay is going to have some issues later on by 7 00 in the morning, 29mileperhour wind gust in santa rosa, 36 in fairfield and the wind direction stays pretty steady out of the north so that will continue to funnel any of that smoke into the rest of the bay area. Would not be surprised later on this morning we wake up, were going to have smoke in our skies, likely poor air quality but we have the fires that are burning in the north bay active at this hour. This is what we really want to see, by noon later on today this is good news for the north bay. The winds really look to subside and this is what will really help firefighters later on today. By the lunch time hour we really get those winds less than 10 Miles Per Hour, taken really looks like they will stay down through the later afternoon and evening hours later on today. Its really the short term that we have those active winds and then theyll start to calm down. Wind advisory in effect and red flag warning in effect for much of the region essentially the areas in red but you can take the entire region under this high fire danger, where we have it out there. East bay hills camera is shaking in the breeze, because we have these winds that are so active, not only in the north bay but also in the east bay as well. Its the north bay we really want to focus on because this is where we have several fires, we have mandatory evacuations under way, its a really good idea if youre listening to us if youre watching us in the north bay, it would be a good idea to gather what you need in case you have to leave at a moments notice because these fires are moving in an erratic way and they are jumping around and evacuation notices are coming rather quickly in the north bay right now. It would be a good idea to get what you need if you had to leave your house in a moments notice. The winds are not going to help you right now. Er this asew breezy. 39mileperhour wind gust in fairfield, 36 in santa rosa, 39 in oakland and the winds are just pushing that smell of smoke across many parts of the region outside of the north bay. This is just incredible, this is one of the reasons we have a mandatory evacuation under way in santa rosa in this neighborhood Fountain Grove parkway you can see by mendocino avenue, this is where we have folks that are getting out because these winds are just so erratic at this hour that theyre gusting, this is pretty incredible not only for this time of year but this time of night. We have a gust right now out of the northeast at 53 Miles Per Hour, and you could see on here a northeast wind would push the smoke to the south and to the west, and this is what were seeing on this radar map. Live doppler 7 as you see that active sweep around santa rosa, you see these pops of green, even pops of yellow, typically we would be talking about rain, but we have a clear weather plat tern right n pattern and smoke is streaming in a southeast fashion right now, thats what youre seeing this indication of green on your screen, even the pops of yellow. The pops of yellow indicate dense smoke in the region and thats what live doppler 7 is picking up. You can see that smoke is streaming just to the north of santa rosa proper and the winds right now are out of the northeast, gusting to 53 Miles Per Hour, so that is why were seeing smoke billowing in that direction. Atlas peak one of the first fires we were reporting on late last night in the north bay, its a similar situation right now unfortunately, the winds are really active. Theyre very breezy at 32 Miles Per Hour. The relative humidity is rather low at 16 . So these two ingredients when they come together we know it too well unfortunately at this time of the year, it can mean fires start and spread rapidly. Thats what were seeing under these conditions, a lot of dry vegetation and fires that started in the north bay and the winds that are just breezy right now, and this map we want to show it to you as often as we can because it tells you when well finally get some help from Mother Nature not until midday so its very breezy as we go throughout your Morning Hours, 7 00 we still have winds frequently gusting out of the north over 25 Miles Per Hour, and then were going to start to see these winds subside a bit and by 1 00 the winds thankfully will be below 5 miles an hour and it will stay that way through much of the later evening hours. So once we get into midday, it looks like Mother Nature will finally cooperate and firefighters will get a little bit of help from Mother Nature and get these winds to calm down. In the near term these winds will continue to be rather breezy out of the north hampering the effort at this hour. Winds in the hills once again its the same story. We have winds that are just so breezy right now, 37 in the Oakland Hills, 32 in atlas peak, mt. Tam 36 Miles Per Hour, and that wind direction once again were still getting folks on twitter and facebook writing in theyre smelling smoke, waking up and the reason why is were tracking those numerous fires that are in the north bay right now, and the smoke is getting sent south because of the wind direction. You see that wind out of the north is blowing that smoke to the south and thats why a lot of folks in San Francisco even oakland are smelling shoek. Smoke. I wouldnt be surprised in the next couple of hours reports around fremont, hayward, san leandro, even south into san jose perhaps in the mountain view, palo alto folks smell that smoke because the smoke continues to billow just to the south. Winds are active, later oen this morning, 7 00 the winds are still breezy in the north bay and its going into that 11 00 a. M. 12 00 p. M. Hour, matt, that were going to see some relief from Mother Nature. This is going to be good for the north bay finally that the winds will calm down but thats still several hours away so in the near term the winds are very active but as we get towards midday today were going to get relief from another nature and shes really going to help to bring some leverage to the firefighters in the north bay that are battling these chaotic fires. Matt . All right, thank you, drew. This is new video we just got in from our abc 7 news photographer patrick sedillo, four miles south of napa, is that correct . It is what im being told. You can see the flames there and the whole ridge line just with the flames, and there more flames coming off of the hillside there. And just obviously this is what a lot of people are seeing in the area there whether napa county or youre up in Sonoma County or wherever youre at today, and just along the silverado wine trail, all of that area is just seeing a lot of flames, and a lot of fire along those ridge lines, and we know that a lot of people, everywhere here in the bay area are smelling a lot of the smoke from these fires, several fires that are burning. I do want to update you on something that i did see regarding the animals. So where people can take their animals if they want to, if they are forced to evacuate, the napa county Animal Shelter at 94 hartle court will shelter dogs, cats, rabbits and other household animals. I also want to give you a heads up, Chp Santa Rosa says highway 101 is shut down at bicentennial in santa rosa, so obviously its impacting that area. We heard earl whier that that fire had jumped 101 there at hopper avenue, and coffee lane there, where that kohls store is, and its just in the northernmost residential neighborhood. Just getting word we have someone on the phone who is being evacuated right now. Good morning. Hi, how are you doing . Hi, good. Im sorry, i heard your name just briefly in my ear. Let me have you say your name. Thanks for joining us this morning. What can you tell us about your evacuation . Where do you live . I live in the valley right now. What are you seeing . Im seeing large amounts of red, the sky is orange, just a little bit north of Rincon Valley, by calistoga, the sky is orange engulfed in flames, about three or four different cars behind me and right in front of me, were getting escorted out by the fire trucks and tons of cars coming again trying to look at the news but all getting evacuated and blocked off completely for safety which i completely agree with. This is your video that were seeing right now on the screen, pretty incredible. Youre right about the sky being completely orange. Yes. How were you notified of the evacuation . Actually i just went outside for a little breath of air and i just, it was completely orange and caught me off guard completely. I was relaxed and eye fight or flight instinct came on and i had to move. What are you doing . Where are you going right now . Im actually evacuating, we operate our restaurant in the park, im headed out there. Right now im in Rincon Valley slowly making mire way out behind the truck. What are the conditions there . Can you tell us about the wind . The wind is just slapping me across the face the entire time basically. Its really hard, theres a lot of trees falling on the ground and the reason why were being evacuated, too, seems like its difficult to get out of here because some of the roads are getting blocked off by the trees falling down on the roads so all of the onelane roads are looking dangerous and its looking pretty chaotic over here at the moment. Weve heard that the winds obviously causing problems with the fire, but also knocking down trees and power lines. Yes. Do you have power . Did you have power at your house . No, absolutely none. Once i went out it was weird timing. I went outside and came back in and the power was out. I knew instantly something was going wron wrong. How much time did you have before you figured out you had to leave and by the time you left . Oh, i just instantly went inside, called 911 and they told me thomas lake was getting evacuated so i knew something was going wrong, thats five minutes away from me so i knew i had to get my wallet, get my phone and a little bit of money and head outside and go check out whats happening and how close it is, notify my friends and family. How many homes are in that area . In my area Rincon Valley, im guessing ball park 25,000, 30,000 people. All need to be evacuated out. You think all those people, you this i in 25,000 people are going to be evacuated from this area . No, maybe not that much, that might be overboard. If the fire doesnt stop and its coming from both sides so its coming from Rincon Valley and some behind the valley. If its coming from both sides and the people cant get there quick enough i can see it being a potential huge danger for us. Yes, well were glad that youre safe and thank ou for talking with us this morning. Definitely. As youre going out, what are your thoughts . Did you ever imagine Something Like this could happen in your area . This is not something that every day this is not what you think about. I this i this is what people should be cautious about every once in a while living near a real when youre out in nature things can happen so you got to be careful. Im definitely cautious about this. Thank you so much for calling. Most definitely. We really appreciate it, and we hope everything goes well with your evacuation here with all the other people as well. Yes, thank you very much and good luck to everyone else, too. Thank you. Thank you. Youre hearing the stories and people going out and seeing the video that he shot there, and what he is experiencing walking out and seeing basically an orange sky, i know that that experience is for a lot of people out there. I get the feeling, drew, when were seeing what were seeing, hearing what were hearing the morning will be devastating. Once we get light and see how many homes are being destroyed, i mean the thing that i am most concerned about obviously and the thing that everybodys most concerned about is the lives of these people in these areaust everybody can get out. In the Morning Hours it is dangerous. Whenever i go to a house fire or any type of fire in the middle of the night, firefighters are always most concerned because everybodys asleep and thats a problem and an issue. Huge problem. Ive seen people on twitter saying i havent turned on the tv all day and i just figured this out. Yep. The hope is that people are getting this information, the Law Enforcement is able to knock on doors, wake people up, get people out because there are Mass Evacuations everywhere. Its not a bad idea at all. Lot of folks are doing it on twitter and facebook. Theyre calling their friends and calling their family. If you havent done that with some of your friends or family give them a call now and let them know what is happening right now because it is in the Early Morning hours that these fires in the north bay are rapidly moving and spreading, and matt we said earlier they cant put aircraft in the air to fight these fires overnight. Is that correct . They say they wont put the aircraft until they have daylight and the helicopters have to deal with wind issues. Were getting hampered by Mother Nature. The winds this has been the big component all night with these fires. The winds have been just so fierce in the north bay, gusting over 30 Miles Per Hour and in fact we have Tiffany Wilson who is live in the north bay right now what is going on where she is. Tiffa tiffany . Reporter good morning, drew. We are at the Crosswalk Church in napa, the Evacuation Center for many of these people, who have had their doors knocked on, and heard there is fire nearby. Many told me the area around their home is incredibly smoky. We saw one man being evacuated out of a police vehicle, an elderly gentleman who is getting some assistance, going inside. Here you can see the American Red Cross is here, there are paramedics on site. Weve seen the sheriff. We have seen police. Everyone is all hands on deck at this point. So many people who weve talked to are struggling for information, saying when they left their homes, it was very, very smoky, and now they dont know what they will eventually go back to find. I spoke to one couple who is here on vacation from oklahoma city. They were staying at the carneros inn, there was a mandatory evacuation. They had a knock on their door and thought it was room service, and said we dont need anything, we dont need anything and they realized it was 2 00 in the morning and the person outside their door was screaming fire, fire, get out talk to a couple of other individuals that said they didnt have any time to grab anything. Police came, pulled up their driveway, the lights were shining and said you have to go now and the woman who i spoke to that that happened said she grabbed her dog and left and that was it. Thats all she has with her. Another man initially tried to evacuate to fairfield, but there were no rooms left there. There was no space, so he turned around and came back to napa to the Crosswalk Church. Inside of this Church Gymnasium they have set up cots. They are registering different people. Again, the red cross is here on hand. Im going to try to cross the street here in a couple of seconds as these cars continue to pour in to the parking lot. Theres almost no parking spots to be found, that is how crowded it is. Now im going to go across the street here. Excuse me, maam, you had said youd be willing to talk. If you can just tell me about your experience evacuating this evening. Yes, we live over in silve silverado springs and sensed all the smoke issues and then i saw online that they were evacuating the silverado resort and thats really close to where we live, so i knew at that point we needed to get up and get ready to head out, and then within minutes there were red lights in our neighborhood and police knocking on our doors. What was going through your mind and your emotions when you knew this wasnt just another red flag warning, this of real . Yes, well the smoke is so thick over by silverado we knew it was close and serious so weve been through an evacuation at our cabin in the mountains before, and you just dont worry about what youre grabbing, just essentials and we got our dre r drivers license and the dog and thats about it. Reporter what have you found here at the Evacuation Center . Everyone here has been wonderful, very welcoming to everybody. They already have food in for everyone and water and cot, red cross was here right away setting up cots for everyone, too. And theyre letting us at least walk around with our animals, because there are a lot of people here with their dogs and cats. So mostly im worried about the elderly people so ive been checking on cars to make sure that if they need any help, and weve been sharing blankets because theres an older gal next to us so weve made sure shes got blankets, shes sleeping in a car right now. I know silverado is one of the first areas under that mandatory evacuation. What are your thoughts at this point . The firefighters are doing everything they can to protect the homes. Absolutely, in the dark in these winds have been brutal. There were quite a number of trees that were already down in our neighborhood even as we were driving out, so it was obvious the wind was really causing a lot of havoc. So mostly its just hoping that all the people are okay. None of us really care about our material things right now, and just hoping that especially anyone who are shutins and things like that, we have neighbors that are a little less mobile, so we were trying to make sure that they got out as well and i know a lot of people are picking people up at homes and making sure that they get transportation as well. Reporter we have seen that cars full of strangers droppig people off. Sxexactly. Reporter what does that say to you about the community you are a part of . We have only been here about three years and we have found from minute one that everyone was so helpful and so kind, and its a pretty intimate community for even as big as napa is. Everyone looks out for each other very well and have been so welcoming and so kind. We are very impressed. Reporter what is your name, maam . Katey magliano. Reporter thank you for your time. Glad you are safe and your dog is safe as well. That was one persons story. As you can see, very busy here in the parking lot. We just saw some big bags of dog food being dropped off, but this is a situation that is changing minute by minute. I want to talk a little bit about the conditions out here. It is windy, as you can see my hair blowing, when i was driving up here it was gusty. There were times when dirt and debris were being blown across the roads, and again, smoke. Right where we are its not too bad. You can definitely smell the smoke, but i also smelled smoke when i was in downtown San Francisco a couple of hours ago, so id say its a little bit smokier here, but you can still breathe and that is such an important difference from what you heard katie just say where in her neighborhood around silverado incredibly, incredibly thick smoke, choking smoke, and that is not the case here at the Evacuation Center. Again, if you look here behind me, you can see the number of people who are staging, who are preparing for the numerous neighborhoods that are being evacuated. There are cots set up back behind me, a couple of the families who i talked to before we went live on the air just saying initially they didnt know where to turn. One family trove over toward santa rosa but then when they were headed into santa rosa they saw the line of fire going into that direction so they turned around and came back here. People at this point arent sure where they are safe or where the fire is going to go to next with these gusty breezes that we are having. So a lot of uncertainty, a lot of people who just havent slept all night long, but they do feel grateful to be here, to be safe, and again, you heard just so many acts of kindness, so many acts of strangers helping strangers as theyre getting their neighbors out of bed and to safety here at the Evacuation Center. Matt and drew, back to you. Tiffany just a question. I cant believe how busy this place is, but just from kind of your estimation there, how many people do you believe are at this shelter . Reporter so i walked in a couple of minutes ago, and i would say theres at least 100, probably 130 inside of the gymnasium right now, but that is not counting the number of people who are in their cars. So if you can look over this way, matt, this parking lot extends all the way around, it wraps around to the front of the church, and then it continues back the other way behind the camera around behind the church over this way as well, and there are cars parked in almost every single parking spot and some people are staying inside of their cars rather than going into the gymnasium, perhaps staying with their animals in their cars or just trying to catch a little bit of sleep inside of their vehicles as opposed to going into the very welllit gymnasium. So its hard to tell exactly how many people are here for that reason, but i would put a couple hundred cars, at least, plus another 100, 130 people inside of the gymnasium. Okay, well, thank you so much, tiffany. We really appreciate it. And i also want to talk about tiffany had talked about in talking to some of the evacuees there, about pets. And obviously, theyre allowing pets there. Sometimes in situations like this, everybody just kind of makes do and you do what you have to do. But they do have an Evacuation Center set up that is for animals. Its the napa county Animal Shelter at 942 hartel court and theyll house dogs, cats, rabbits and other household animals. But obviously, people want to be with their pets at this time and a lot of people having them in their cars. These are the pictures weve been looking at all morning long. Its just devastating. A lot of the people coming from this area there. That is in the soda canyon road area that is just above napa and the downtown napa area that you saw that tiffany was there. So, obviously, just devastating this morning. Drew, whats the latest with the weather conditions . Yeah, i mean, the winds have not changed at all. You can see these images that were getting. The winds are just so chaotic within these fires, the embers are getting thrown up into the atmosphere, and then theyre landing somewhere else and potentially starting another fire. So, the winds right now in the north bay are of greatest concern. That is where we have the fires we are tracking and the winds are not helping the efforts right now. Theyre gusting very high in napa right now, 35mileperhour gusts, 39 that current gust in fairfield, 24 right now in santa rosa. Thats actually an improvement over the past 30 minutes. That wind has actually come down a bit. Earlier it was gusting to about 30 Miles Per Hour. Right now in santa rosa its down to 24, so good news there. But that wind direction, i cant emphasize this enough we have more and more people that are waking up and joining us right now because they were woken up by intense smoke or the wind. And weve gotten reports out of san leandro that theyre smelling smoke, folks inland in pittsburg are smelling smoke and i wouldnt be surprised if we get reports from san jose of fires in the north bay. The reason why is the wind, the direction. Its coming out of the north and sending all of that smoke from the fires in the north bay to the south. Lets talk about the wind gusts, because this is going to be very important. Its a crucial tool to help firefighters kind of get a handle on the situation. Right now the winds are just so active and theyre so busy, theyre just gusting over 30 Miles Per Hour at times. And the forecast, as you watch the timestamp, this would be 5 00, later on this morning. Still an active wind at about 27 Miles Per Hour, and even by 8 00 in the morning, the winds are still gusting over 20 Miles Per Hour. But the good news is, and it continues to show this in our forecast guidance, as we get to midday, the winds really do come down substantially. By 12 00, say later on today, the winds do come down. And once they come down, it looks like theyre going to stay down, and thats going to be great news for firefighters to fight these fires. But right now in the near term, what were concerned with is the winds being just so active in the north bay right now. Still active in our hills as well. Tam gusting to 35. You can see atlas peak right now, where we have a fire on atlas peak road, its gusting to 29 Miles Per Hour right now, and even folks are getting woken up outside of the north bay, in the Oakland Hills you have winds gusting to 38 Miles Per Hour. So thats certainly rattling windows at this hour, but all eyes are on the winds in the north bay, and that is what well be watching over the next couple hours. In fact, well take you through the timeline today. Well show you those winds and what theyre doing in the future. Future tracker wind gusts, what were watching in the north bay in the next hour or so. By 4 00 in the morning, little in the way of change in the speed. I wouldnt be surprised if we see a couple locations actually increase their wind speed. That would be in the forecast, so wind gusts still over 30 Miles Per Hour later on this morning. As we get towards 7 00 in the morning, the winds outside of the north bay, they do look to calm down. However, in the north bay, they do look to continue to be rather active with winds over 20 Miles Per Hour, but you do notice the wind direction may shift more of an onshore wind for santa rosa, and that would be good news. It would weaken the heat. It would lessen the wind. And it looks like that will likely continue as we go through the later Morning Hours and into the early afternoon. This is what we want to see on our weather map for wind gusts. We want those winds to really calm down. And right now, it looks like that is going to happen as you get later in the day today, right around noon today. It looks like those winds will calm down, and thats going to be great news for firefighters in the north bay. It will help them to control these fires a little bit better. They will be as chaotic in their movement once the winds do relax later today, so thats something were going to be looking forward to later on. We still have that wind advisory in effect. Power outages are another issue we have in the north bay right now, and that will likely be a threat as we go throughout at least 11 00 later on today. A red flag warning still in effect. We have high fire danger, obviously, with the fires in the north bay right now, but essentially, i would just take the entire region under this fire danger because winds are gusting over 30 Miles Per Hour. Combine that with low humidity and fires could easily start and easily spread. So just want to regroup. If youre just joining us, we are tracking several fires in the north bay and winds are a huge component with these fires right now. Theyre being very chaotic in the movement of the fire lines because of the winds. Theyre just so active right now. You can see winds, especially in fairfield, 39. Were watching the winds in napa especially because we have several fires were watching in the vicinity of that region. You see winds right now, theyre gusting to about 35 Miles Per Hour, and that wind direction continues to be out of the north, and thats why were seeing many reports of smoke being smelled outside of the north bay, because that wind is pushing any smoke from these fires south. So, the news is these winds are active right now, matt, but as we get towards noon today, it looks like the winds will subside, which will be great news for firefighters, and they will stay on the weak side through the later evening hours later on today. Yeah, and we have to get to noon. Yeah. Thats the issue. And i know that were waiting for sunlight to come and that sun to rise because we need those air tankers and those helicopters to drop water on these flames. All right, we want to just get you up to date on what is happening here. Weve been covering this fire for several hours already, and weve been in continuing coverage since 11 00 last night. Its now 3 06 in the morning, and we are talking about a major, major wildfire that is burning in several areas. Six wildfires, at least, in the areas of calistoga, napa, and santa rosa. They have ignited structures and forced residents to evacuate. Now, the fire has crossed 101 there in santa rosa. We reported that. It happened about an hour ago and ignited structures west of the freeway there in the area of Kohls Department store on hopper avenue. 101 was shut down at bicentennial. Residents and businesses are being told to evacuate that area and the areas of cross creek road, sky farm drive, st. Andrews drive, all residents north of Fountain Grove, parkway and montecito heights. The fooire began late last nigh and progressed to the sanita roa city limits. This is a fire that is being pushed by these winds, and fires are starting everywhere, and theyre trying to get people out. Weve talked to evacuees this morning, and they have fire trucks, they have sheriffs deputies, they have Police Officers, and they have all those people knocking on doors and trying to get them out. Of course, its being fueled by windy and dry conditions there. All right, we have on the phone our executive producer here at abc7 news, heather tunnbble, an she is crossing the bay bridge right now. Hi, heather. Hey, matt, hows it going . Okay, so what is going on where youre at . Well, i just got on the bay bridge, and its really not too terrible for people coming into the city from the east bay, but ive got to tell you, on 580, highway 13, theres a lot of debris on the road. You guys have been mentioning how heavy the smoke smell is. You can see the haze through the street lights as you drive in. I think as the morning progresses, people just need to be aware that theyre going to smell that smoke, theyre going to see leaves and debris, possibly tree limbs on the roads, and it could be a really windy, scary commute for people, nothing like what folks in napa and Sonoma County are dealing with, but just something to plan for. Yeah, and heather, i know that weve been talking about, obviously, the windy conditions there in the north valley, and were talking about in the napa area and sonoma area, but weve been hearing all morning long that there in oakland the winds were really bad in the Oakland Hills. And i know fire an issue there, trees being down. Youre seeing a lot of debris. So obviously, a lot of concern for people in that area as well. And obviously, were keeping an eye on there. Yeah, absolutely. Thats what woke us up this morning was the sound of the wind. You know, like a lot of people, we heard it and we thought it was rain. And then we went outside, and all the neighbors, they thought there was a fire in the hills. We live a little bit down from the hills, so everyone was looking for the hills, wondering if we needed to leave. But you guys are doing a great job. All i had to do was turn on the tv and look at my phone and knew exactly what was going on, so our thoughts are definitely with those people in the north bay who are actually dealing with it. Yeah, and i know a lot of people are smelling the smoke and concerned that maybe theres a fire i their area, and i would say for the most part, no, thats not the situation. That is not the case. So, thank you, heather, for calling in. Great, thanks. And checking in with us. We appreciate your perspective on what was happening on your way into San Francisco going over the bay bridge this morning. Want to let you guys know that the Evacuation Centers have been set up. Let me go through the list real quick. Santa rosa at finley Community Center, on west College Avenue at stoney point road. Youve got the petaluma Community Center, youve got the napa county fairgrounds and you have the Crosswalk Community church in napa, where abc7 News Reporter Tiffany Wilson is this morning. And she has been seeing what she says is at least more than 100, if not more than that, at this Evacuation Center, and shes been talking with evacuees. Tiffany . Reporter yeah, matt, weve talked to several other evacuees since last speaking with you, and weve also seen staff from the country inn Retirement Center bringing the individuals at that Retirement Center here to the Crosswalk Church, many of them using walkers, some of them needing assistance getting in and out of the vehicles, but the staff is evacuating everyone there at that retirement home to this church. Now, we also have spoken with nancy christianson, who lives at the silverado country club. And nancy, what was your experience like this morning . What did you see . What did you hear . Well, my neighbor called me about 10 30 and asked me to look out the window to see the fire on the ridge, and i could see it up there, but i couldnt tell how far away it was. But along about an hour ago, the sheriff came by, knocked on my door and told me i had to evacuate. So, by the time i got things loaded into the car to evacuate with, the hill behind my house looked like it was just ablaze. And when i got here just recently, a sheriff told me that the fire has jumped monticello road at a point thats pretty much behind my house. It has a distance. It has to crawl up a hill and come down, but nevertheless, i dont know if im going to have a home when i go home. But as soon as i heard we had to evacuate, i called major kevin of the Salvation Army because i am an e. D. S. Salvation army person, and so, i met him at the corner and we came in here with water and snacks and well be serving breakfast around 7 00 or 8 00, so ill go back down there around 6 00 and start helping with breakfast, and then well come in with our canteen and serve lunch. Reporter i give you so much credit. Here you dont know whether you have a home to return to and you are thinking about others and how you can help them. How do you have the strength . Well, theres nothing i can do here except jump in and do what we do when we have an emergency, and thats what were doing, so. Reporter what have you found the setup to be like inside of the Evacuation Center . Talk to me about some of the other people who youve met. Well, ive actually been in getting the snacks ready, the fruit ready and so forth, so i havent walked around to see who others are and what, perhaps, their situation is, but they do have cots set up and there are some people in there sleeping, but most are sitting there talking at this hour of the morning. Reporter yeah, i mean, i think its tough to rest when you dont know what the situation is like. Can you talk about how quickly it changed from seeing that far line of fire over on the ridge to all of a sudden the flames are in your backyard . Well, it seemed a distance away from me, and i thought i was going to be safe because it seemed like it was going from north down toward atlas peak road and not coming my way, but apparently, it is now. Reporter and describe the wind to me. I mean, were seeing it blow through your hair a little bit right now. Yes, yes. Reporter but i know it is just the worst thing for these fires. Yes, and around my house, there are so many trees, so many oaks. And it just seemed to be flipping those trees around, and i thought really, you know, that fire can go any way. Forestry is just down a street and around the corner from us, so im just hoping that if it does come down as low as our house, that forestry will be able to go up there and hopefully save our homes. Reporter was there anything you were able to grab, anything significant that you took with you . Well, yeah, the checkbook and some clothing and certain papers that i thought maybe i would need, just in case my house does burn down, because i am near the top of a hill. So, there are other houses across the street, but if they go, my house may go. So i thought id better take the important papers. But its hard to know at the last moment what ones to grab. One doesnt really think theyre going to have to evacuate with a half hours notice. Reporter certainly, no, you dont, especially in the middle of the night, but thats a situation none of us want to find ourselves in. Nancy, thank you so much for sharing your story. Oh, youre very welcome. Reporter all right, just one story among many here. We spoke with another woman named peggy, who she initially woke up to the sound of someone blaring their horn just constantly. It woke her up out of a deep sleep. She said she didnt know why they were honking their horn overnight, and then she rolled up the blinds of her bedroom window and just saw the entire back side covered in fire, and thats when she said she sort of came to and realized that as that person was honking the horn, they were also screaming fire and so, she grabbed her cat and her toothbrush and her purse, and that was it, and she ran out of the house. And since then, she has been getting calls from friends and family who live over in santa rosa, and theyre experiencing fire over there as well. So, she said shes not really sure where is safe, who is safe, who will have a home to go back to. Just a lot of uncertainty this morning. She was able to help a couple of her elderly neighbors out to their cars as well, so we have seen them here in the parking lot together. That is a trend, matt, that we have been seeing, just neighbors helping neighbors. Again, those who have not been able to walk on their own have been getting assistance. Weve seen people on crutches and with walkers, and weve also seen a lot of pets here. If you look over here, theres a black dog that just went by. Weve seen at least half a dozen dogs over here to the left. You can see several people with their dogs. So again, when people have just minutes to evacuate, its those family pets that are beloved, that are chief among the things that they grab. And really, here at the Evacuation Center, the dogs have been welcome and were also just seeing a lot of calmness, despite this being a very stressful situation, a lot of uncertainty here. So many of the people have exhibited a sense of calm and purpose. I spoke to one man who lives downtown napa, and he said his house is totally fine, but he came here to help out. So, really, some of the incredible acts of neighbor kindness that we are seeing at this Evacuation Center. For now live in napa, Tiffany Wilson, abc7 news. Matt, back to you. Yes, its nice to see all these residents working together there. Thank you so much, tiffany. And we want to update everybody on these Evacuation Centers. They are there on your screen. The napa county fairgrounds there on oak street, north oak street in calistoga, the Crosswalk Community church. Thats where tiffany is there in napa. That is on first street. Well show you the next screen here that will show you the rest of them. The finley Community Center at 2060 west College Avenue in santa rosa. And i just got word from the red cross bay area that they are opening up another shelter due to the wildfires in Sonoma County. This is going to be at the santa rosa Veterans Memorial hall at 1351 maple avenue. So, they are opening up another shelter at this time at the santa rosa Veterans Memorial hall at 1351 maple avenue. Weve been looking at this video all morning long, obviously, fueled by the winds, and drew tuma has been following it all night and all mornin long as well. Drew, where are we at now . The winds are still active. I want to take you to live doppler 7 along with satellite, and you can see this gray shading on your screen. Live doppler 7 along with satellite is actually picking up on the smoke in one of the fires in the north bay right now. Its just settling over napa right now, and its streaming down to the south. And thats why a lot of folks outside of the north bay are smelling smoke where they live. Winds right now are still rather active across the north bay, gusting to 39 Miles Per Hour in fairfield, 28 in napa. Santa rosa has a wind gust right now of 24 Miles Per Hour. Even outside of the north bay, oakland and concord has a very active wind, but weve been kind of reiterating this throughout the night. That wind direction is so key right now as to why so many people across the region are smelling the smoke. That wind is out of the north, so its taking any smoke from the fires in the north bay and sending it directly south into the rest of the bay area. And thats why a lot of folks, even in San Francisco, oakland, weve gotten reports from san leandro, even over towards pittsburg, brentwood, even san mateo. A lot of folks are smelling that smoke, and that is because the winds are so active right nowct. So, lets talk about the winds, especially in the north bay at this hour, because this is the area of most concern with those active fires early on this morning. The winds are going to stay active at least through 5 00. Later on this morning, over the next couple hours, winds you can see well over 20 Miles Per Hour and really a similar story by 8 00. Winds dont have much in the way of change. Then you notice a sharp dropoff in those wind speeds. By 11 00, later on this morning, even by noon, those winds will dramatically decrease in their speed, and that is going to be great news. This is what we want to see for firefighters. This is what will help them battle this fire. The numerous fires were tracking in the north bay right now. And once those fires, or i should say, once those winds, rather, turn calm by midday, it looks like theyll stay on the weak side, and thats just great news. That is what we want to see for firefighters, but its really just this short nearterm right now over the next several hours where the winds are going to stay rather active. In our hills, they are active as well. Oakland hills right now having winds of 38 Miles Per Hour. To tam we go. We have 35mileperhour winds. Atlas peak, where we were tracking one of those fires around atlas peak road, the winds are gusting to 29 Miles Per Hour. And earlier this morning, knoxville creek actually had a wind gust of 50 Miles Per Hour. So its very active in the north bay right now, and it continues to be even at this hour. So, lets walk you through hour by hour, show you what you can expect with those winds as we go through the Morning Hours. By 4 00 later on, were not going to see much in the way of a difference over the next hour orti. So as we go through 7 00 in the poxg on your monday, the winds relax outside of the north bay, but its still active in the north bay are breezy conditions. Theres the key time frame, 11 00 in the morning to about noon. This is what we really want to see for firefighters. Those winds are really calming down. Theyre weakening to less than 10 Miles Per Hour, and thats going to be great news as we head into the afternoon and the evening. Those winds are going to be very weak, and thats going to help firefighters out there. So, thats what were watching over here midday. I believe were going to send it over to Jessica Castro right now at the live desk. Jessica . Yeah, hi, drew, just joining with the breaking news coverage. Another evacuee, skyler, says she was working in sonoma when this fire started. At first there was nothing, and then we saw the smoke. And then slowly, we saw all the flames coming up over the mountain. A couple flames here and there, and eventually, the whole mountain was on fire. We had to go. We had to get out. We ended up not being able to take the main route. We got stopped by a couple ambulances and fire trucks and stuff, and they told us, youve got to evacuate the other way. Youve got to go the other way. And from our view, we were like driving into the fire. And then at the last moment, the road turned and there was a whole street full of people who were watching it it. And its just crazy to see how it can come out of nowhere and affect so many different people. Oh, and that is certainly the sentiment this morning. Skyler says she went to grab all her animals and headed over to the Evacuation Center at Crosswalk Community church where there are so many folks there right now. And as we continue this breaking news coverage, i do want to show you here from our live desk as we start to get some of that social Media Information coming in from our viewers that are watching right now, i want to show you some of the pictures we do have. This is one from santa rosa. That woman, skyler there, just describing this scene where you could see flames basically everywhere and kind of that idea here. Josh saying santa rosa fire. Hanging with my dad. Just saw flames by his neighborhood, we think, and that is certainly, if you are just waking up and you are smelling that smoke i could smell it here all the way in San Francisco where i live, so certainly, people all across the north bay are smelling that smoke. Drew tuma has been talking about that throughout the morning, and that is what folks are waking up to. So, yes, josh, you are right, you are waking up to that massive fire in the north bay, in napa and sonoma. I also want to show you a video from francesca maria. And you can actually in this video really see what firefighters are dealing with right now, because theyre dealing with so much wind. They are dealing with those heavy winds. And in the middle of the night. So, these cars pulled over. Let me play it one more time, and you can see some of the debris, maybe ashes kind of well, there it is. When it turns, you can see the fire. So, ash, and you can see really the wind that is propelling this fire right now. Here is another video from francesca that sent it to us. The ridge there you can see on fire. Such an eerie scene and what so many folks are waking up to. And you see its along the highway there. We have heard that this fire has crossed over the highway in numerous places, and so, this is obviously going to be difficult for firefighters to fight as these winds are really gusty right now. Drew is saying these are only going to come down in the afternoon, and so, therefore, this is going to be an issue throughout the night. As folks start waking up, you could be at a moments notice evacuated from your home. So, if you are watching us and you have not had that knock on your door quite yet, you will want to start gathering your belongings if you are anywhere near this fire and start getting prepared to make an immediate evacuation. This is from leslie ryder, saying just lost power. This person might be evacuated soon. If you are seeing these types of pictures from your home, your window or your door, you are probably too close for comfort and you are going to be evacuated sometime soon. And of course, thats going to be an issue as folks hit the road this morning and try to get to these Evacuation Centers, which we have heard are already packed. Lets check in with my colleague, alexis smith, who is looking at those roads. And how are they doing now . Yeah, if youre in the north bay, we have got a ton of closures to get to. The first one, the santa rosa area. Look at all this purple on our traffic maps, indicating full closures. Southbound 101 right around river road, mark west springs, a full closure. That is because the fire jumped the interstate there. So no one able to get by on the southbound side. Im working to confirm if you can continue northbound on 101. I have not been able to get that confirmed with chp yet, but we will definitely pass that along as soon as i have more information. We have another major closure on 37 right at 121. They will not let you continue past the sears point area. Youll have to head back west towards 101. No estimate. Again, we are expecting these to be longterm here this morning while these fires are basically out of control this morning and while everyone tries to just get a grip on where they all are located. We have a lot of smaller roads that are closed. We have about 29 fully closed in the oakville area, it looks like, and it looks like state route 12 is closed in the kenwood area as well. So, again, i am working on getting all these maps put together. Weve got low visibility in the area as well, and then i quickly want to show you what Golden Gate Bridge looks like. Reggie, im sure you smelled it outside this morning. I feel like im sitting by a campfire. Its in my hair, just from walking out to my vehicle. Extremely windy in some areas. So, its hazy. Theres a lot of debris on the roadways, so take it easy no matter where you are this morning. I know im not the only person who thought that my home was on fire when i woke up and didnt know what was going on. And we looked all around and realized, okay, this is a bigger situation than we imagined. Good morning to you. Im reggie aqui from abc7 mornings. Our team has assembled. Tiffany wilson is live for us in napa at the Evacuation Center. This is Crosswalk Community church. Tiffany, last time we checked in when you were talking to matt keller, i think you said there were about 130 people who were inside the gymnasium. Are you seeing more arrivals now . Reporter absolutely, reggie. I would now put the number well over 200 people. That is just inside of the gymnasium. Using some of the cots, stretching out, talking to each other. But again, this parking lot is packed. You can hardly find a parking spot. Many people are staying inside of their cars trying to sleep a little bit in there, or if they have dogs, just staying in the comfort of their vehicle, rather than being in the middle of the gymnasium, where the lights are on. Now, i did find a couple whos here on vacation from charlotte, North Carolina. This is austin adkins. And youre staying at the carneros inn. What was your experience . Its pretty crazy. At 2 00 a. M. Or so, we had a loud bang on our door. I thought somebody was trying to break in, so i started yelling at the guy. Hes like, sorry for the rude awakening we opened the door, hes like, weve got a fire about two miles out, weve got to get out. Here, so we hit the road. Reporter whats the feeling at 2 00 in the morning somebody saying this is a wildfire. This is not typical for North Carolina or in your daytoday experience. Yeah, just crazy. You know, kind of in shock and glad i didnt drink an extra bottle of wine, right . That is a good point. Now, what were you able to grab and pack up as you were heading out the door . I had a lot of adrenaline going, so we were able to get everything and throw it in the car and hit the road. We were only here for a day so far, so everything was still kind of put away, so it worked out well. Reporter now, i understand this was an anniversary trip. You were supposed to take the wine train today, you know, all of those plans now up in the air. What are your thoughts just going through this . Playing it by ear, but were glad to be safe and better than in the fire, right . And its pretty much par for the course. This is actually our second trip. We had to reschedule. We were originally going to be in the keys and irma kind of took that one out. So, just kind of bad luck for us, right . Reporter Mother Nature has got your card right now. I know. People should pay me to go somewhere else. Reporter not a bad idea. Austin, i wish you the best of luck. Again, so many different stories. We spoke to another couple that werent sure why somebody was banging on their door. They thought it was room service initially and then they realized that person was yelling fire, and so they got out of bed as well. We do have an interview with a woman named peggy who we spoke to just a few minutes ago. She at one point thought that her house was safe, returned to it, and then she realized that she was going to be evacuated just a few minutes later. But listen to what she had to say. And maybe we dont have that sound. I thought that we did. But basically, she had been part of a, you know, a voluntary evacuation several hours ago. And when they realized that, oh, maybe our neighborhood is safe, she went home to it. She said she collapsed on the floor and was crying, so grateful, thanking god for pr protecting her house. Then 15 minutes later, she saw the flames start to approach closer and closer as those winds shifted, and she grabbed her cat, she grabbed her toothbrush, and she rushed out the door, got a couple of neighbors. And okay, i do believe that we have that sound now, so take a listen to peggy. Okay, tiffany, were going to work to get that. Reporter okay, i guess not. But again yeah, reggie, once we have that, i will come back to it, but again, this is a live look at the Evacuation Center here behind me. We have the paramedics that are on standby, the American Red Cross is here, members of the Salvation Army, and then just a line of cars pulling in. A constant flow of cars. We have numerous Retirement Centers that are under mandatory evacuations, and many of those individuals needing assistance, some using crutches, some using walkers. I have to give so much credit to the staff who are transporting many of these individuals in their personal cars. Here you can see several people getting help as theyre getting out of this car right now. We have talked to just a number of people whose homes are not in the danger area, but they have turned up here to the Evacuation Center to help. They are setting out food, they are offering comfort, they are providing cell phones whenever needed, but a lot of people showing up here. The latest number, reggie, i would put well over 200, and that is not including those who are staying inside of their cars. Thats the situation live in napa. Im Tiffany Wilson, abc7 news. Reggie, back to you. Tiffany, we appreciate the updates. Well of course be checking with you throughout the morning. So, tiffanys at the Crosswalk Community church, 2590 first street in napa. There are a number of other Evacuation Centers which have now opened after crosswalk opened, the first one. Napa county fairgrounds also open this morning, 1435 north oak street, and that is in calistoga. Lets go through where this is located in Sonoma County. The finley Community Center also open to evacuees this morning. Santa rosa, 2060 west College Avenue. Also in santa rosa, at the Veterans Memorial hall, 1351 maple avenue. Those are the Evacuation Centers that have opened up so far. And of course, it is 3 33 now here on abc7 mornings. Thank you for joining us for our special coverage of the fires that are going on right now in the north bay. My colleague, amy hollyfield, is live for us in santa rosa this morning. Amy, what are you seeing . I can see the thick smoke behind you. Reporter it is very thick here, reggie. And let me show you how police are adjusting to their job right now. Look at this officer wearing a heavyduty gas or smoke mask while hes out here in these elements. We are on northbound highway 101 in santa rosa. This is bicentennial way, and this is where you have to exit 101. They have shut down northbound 101 because of the fire. I can actually feel myself getting choked up as the wind blows. And what were inhaling here in this situation, it is very thick and very windy out here, and you can see the officers are all geared up. Weve also noticed when we exited and then drove on the city streets and then came back around to this spot, the gas station was full of cars, so people as theyre evacuating are trying to fuel up their cars and prepare for a long journey, just trying to get all the supplies they can. So, full evacuation efforts on the way here, in order here. Were going to exit this highway now and head over into the city of santa rosa to talk to people as they try to get out, but we saw a very busy gas station and weve heard that the safeway is also jammed. So were going to go talk to people as they try to gather up what they can and get out of here. Reggie, back to you. Amy, can i ask you before you take off, what was it like when you were driving up to santa rosa . Did you see a lot of people trying to get out of the north bay . Reporter everyones going in the opposite direction we were. As were headed toward the fire, we saw everyone leaving the fire, so traffic was heavier sunshine. We didnt experience any gridlock. We were worried that we were going to hit a wall of traffic at one point and not be able to get here to cover it for you. That didnt happen. Traffic is moving, so thats the good news. It is early in the morning, but it looks like people are getting out of here in an orderly way. They are escaping. Southbound was far heavier than northbound. Okay, well be checking in with you. Thank you so much. And you and your crew please be safe this morning. I want to bring on to the phone now lisa winterbottom. She is in kelseyville, and shes joining us right now. Lisa, good morning to you, and tell me when you knew that there was something wrong. Well, about 20 minutes ago. Ive been awake since about 1 00 because we had like really high winds. And as you probably know, we had a pretty bad fire season up here the last couple years. And the smoke was really bad. And we figured maybe it was coming from the south. And just happened i can see all the way across the lake from my deck, and it was just its bright orange and its burning down to the shoreline over in the clear lake area. Very high flames, very high. How far away is that from your house, would you say . Um, id say about half a mile. So at this point, has anyone come through talking about any voluntary evacuations . No. No, not at this point. I know that, as you say, that youve been used to some bad fire seasons over the past several years. Have you ever had to evacuate your home . Yes, we did. We had to evacuate in 2015. It was very traumatic. Im sure that it is, and im sure that youre wondering if thats going to happen again. When will you decide for yourself that its no longer safe to be at your house . When we talk to the sheriff, because they let us know. I mean, we have a really, really great system here. They keep people informed. When evacuations do happen, theyre usually done very quickly and they come house to house and tell you that its time to go and youve just got to grab up any important things and your family and your pets and just go. How concerned are you right now that that is going to be the case . Well, considering looking out the window, out you know, the wind is blowing. Its gusting probably, you know, theres been 50, 60mileanhour gusts like all evening and then into this morning, and you just never know. I mean, because fire creates their own wind systems, too, so we just dont know. Its nerveracking to look out the window and see that, and you know, we know people over there and their homes, and we know that theres houses going up because the flames are just huge. You know, theres homes, theres trailer communities, theres stores. You know, its not far from lower lake, which got, you know, had lots of damage in the last fire, got burned out. So, yeah, its really scary, and a lot of people arent aware because people are still sleeping. And the only reason i knew is because i heard the wind and it kept me awake and i just started watching you guys. Lisa, thats what im worried about is your neighbors who may not be up. And what is the system that you all have in place . Im sure that you know some people who it might be a little more difficult for them to get out of their homes. Mmhmm, mmhmm. Yeah, some of the places are very remote. And what they tend to do is even if its within, you know, seven, eight miles of where you are, they will come through and evacuate you just because they dont want a panic type of thing where everybodys trying to get out, because it would just be, you know, gridlock. Its just, we have country roads, we have twolane highways, you know. Theres very its just not real easy, you know, if youre way back in the hills, to get out when you need to. So sometimes they do it ahead of time, even if its not necessarily coming this direction. Well, lisa, we really appreciate your information, and i am crossing my fingers that those flames dont get any closer to you and that youll be able to stay there with your family and also the other families in your community. We appreciate you talking to us on the phone, and hopefully, we can check in with you later today and get more of an update. Again, lisa, thanks so much for calling in. Now to my colleague, mike nicco, whos been watching the winds. Obviously, mike, winds have been an issue all night long. Yeah, its been amazing, reggie, that everybody waking up now is waking up to the same story. I smelled smoke. I thought maybe my place was on fire. I thought maybe the open space next to my neighborhood was on fire. I had to close the windows this morning. It was just so bad outside. I can still smell it in my nose, and its something thats not going to be something to get rid of easily. So what i wanted to with is telling you what to do, if you can. And that is, if you live in the north bay, stay inside. Your air is as unhealthy as ive seen in 11 years. The air quality is severe. That means everybody is going to be affected by the poor air quality. And if you can, at least get if, something to keep yourself from breathing in all that toxic air. Its the fine particulate matter from everything thats burning out there, and that fine particulate matter is so fine, it can get into your lungs so easily, cause irritation, not only now, but for days. With these northtosouthblowing winds, weve got the coast and central bay at moderate. Weve got the inland east bay valleys, that is where the air quality is now getting poor for everybody. Its not as toxic as the north bay, but it is still prooerybod that you want to be careful this morning when you step outside. Our inland east bay neighborhoods, where the winds are just tremendous this morning, weve had gusts 40 to 50 Miles Per Hour. You drive down the roads, it looks like someone just took a whole, i dont know, truckload of leaves and debris and twigs and just dumped it. I mean, youre driving through a lot of debris this morning. If youre going to be on those ways. And if youre driving around in some of the east bay hills, youre going to get hit by some of that debris also. So its a tough go, not only because of the smoke, but also the debris on the ground, but the debris that is flying through the air is also going to be something that you need to watch out for. Southcentral bay, moderate. And down in the south bay so far, reggie, because theyre the furthest away, they havent had to deal with the poor air quality, but its coming your way. Mike, thanks. Well check in with you throughout the morning. Amy hollyfield, what are you seeing . Reporter hi, reggie. We just saw this. This is along highway 101. This is on the southbound side. Were in santa rosa. We just saw a car drive right by this, so it appears they havent even been able to shut down the southbound side yet. That might have been the last car, though. Very smokey here. I dont want to stay here for long, but i did want to hop on the air and show this to you, because it has hopped over highway 101. Ooh, let me walk im walking right into the smoke. Okay, ive got to go this way. Okay, better. It is so windy out here, reggie, and this fire just appears to be moving at will, just blowing from random, different locations. This northbound side of highway 101 was closed down here at bicentennial, so that wasnt a problem. But then we saw this burning right here on southbound. Another thing were noticing is we keep hearing explosions, loud pops. Did you hear that . I dont know if you can [ pops ] did you hear that . Its almost as if someones propane tanks or tires are popping. So, we keep hearing these loud pops. We also notice that the power went out. Well, these traffic lights are working. There goes another emergency vehicle. They are everywhere. Cars are pulling off right here, you can see, to watch this and also just get off the highway. But its just incredible to see this rightay 101, a highway weve all driven so many times, and to see this raging fire alongside it, these trees going up, and to hear this popping, so much smoke in the air. It is so windy. Such an eerie feeling here because of the smoke is just casting such a light. Its an ominous feeling, but we are seeing people very calmly getting out of here. We dont see any panic or fear making people make bad decisions. People are getting out of here and in an orderly way. You can see oh, that traffic light just went out. Thats the other thing were noticing, traffic lights will suddenly go out, almost like that little area has just lost power, but this utility pole just went out, but this traffic light is still on. But look how dark this is now. I dont know if you can tell with our light, but this was light up just seconds ago. And now it isnt. So, no power here and a fire burning on both sides of highway 101 here in santa rosa and also extremely smokey. Reggie, back to you. That is something else. We appreciate you showing us that. It doesnt seem like the safest situation for you and your crew, so hopefully, youll get out of there and continue to update us on what is happening, but we really do appreciate that, amy. Thank you. Okay, so, amy just showed us how bad the situation is now, as this fire has jumped highway 101. She, of course, is in napa. And jessicas been monitoring what youre sending in, and you are sending us a lot of images. Yeah, reggie. A lot of people using abc7now, which allows us to get a glimpse of whats happening out there. We just saw amy out in santa rosa. She took a picture for us and i want to pull it up here on our big monitor, saying that Police Officers are indeed wearing face masks to keep the smoke away because that smoke, air quality is so terrible right now, as mike was saying just a few moments ago. I want to also show you this. This is a video from one of our viewers showing the scene as you do leave santa rosa, which is where amy was. She mentioned the traffic not too heavy, and thats what we see in the video, good news as people evacuate this morning. I want to show you another video from one of our viewers. This is Redwood Valley through potter valley. And again, you see folks in their vehicles trying to get away from this fire and seeing that mountainside lit up with flames, and of course, that heavy smoke that you can smell all the way here in San Francisco. Reggie, you and i both woke up this morning and commented on the fact that you can really smell the smoke here in the city. And so, folks in and across the north bay are smelling that smoke, even if they cannot smell those flames. Look at this. My road in calistoga, flames were in our backyard. And thats one of the later places to be evacuated, calistoga, knights valley, tubs lane. Those evacuations were under way just before midnight, so theyve been evacuated for a few hours. Your Evacuation Center is napa county fairgrounds. And really, you can see those huge flames in folks backyards, and that is the scene throughout the morning. So, keep sending in your videos. We keep getting a lot of great information from social media as we get this eye view from folks all across the north bay, in napa county as well as in santa rosa where that fire is really, really heavy right now. And again, those winds really strong. Weve been seeing a lot of that those comments on social media as well as the video, really proving that those winds are gusting very strongly right now. And heres another video, just to show you the idea that folks are getting in their cars and are able to see this fire across so much of that area, reggie, and thats also a concern, of course, as people try to make y jessica, thank you. And right now we are following, so far what were being told are five fires that are burning in napa and sonoma counties. You can see Tiffany Wilson is live for us at the first Evacuation Center that opened. Thats Crosswalk Community church in napa. Tiffany. Reporter reggie, right now you can see that another Disaster Relief trailer from the red cross has showed up. We have the evacuees who have lined up to help unload it. They are unloading cots. They are unloading gear. They are unloading all sorts of emergency supplies, from toiletries to there is food items in there, water. But many of these individuals have fled their homes, dont know whether they have homes to go back to, and yet, here they are helping out, trying to set up this Evacuation Center even more. Several hundred people are here inside of the gymnasium. We have seen families carryin children, toddlers walking in in their superman pajamas. We saw one man without a shirt, another woman being helped inside with only one shoe. It gives you some perspective on just how quickly these people had to leave their homes. We are not talking minutes in some cases, we are talking seconds, grabbing children out of beds, throwing them in the car and leaving as quickly as they possibly can. I talked to one woman who just burst into tears. We have people here who are in shock, and then we also have people here who have snapped into action, helping out, doing whatever they can. And one of those individuals is tito fuentes jr. He is from carneros, which is under mandatory evacuation. Tito, what was your experience like . You said you were coming home from the movies. Coming home from the movies, got home about 12 45. We were on our way there, we saw the fire in the carneros area, across maybe a mile away from our house. And then all of a sudden it was over the hill and coming. The sheriff showed up. Joey did a great way, and we had to evacuate. And we have a care home there, so we had to evacuate elderly people, six residents. But the sheriffs put them all in our truck and we got down the hill. Reporter what was your thought when you saw, okay, initially, the fire is a mile away, and then how quickly was it that it rapidly approached your home . I was honestly, i was in denial. I didnt think it was going to get that close. But as you mentioned earlier, it was minutes. It wasnt half hours, it was seconds. It was on top of the hill and next thing you know it was next to the highway, and we were driving out of the driveway as the fire was coming down the other side of the hill. Reporter what have you heard about the area surrounding your house . I know information is scarce. Weve had people approaching us all morning saying what do you know, what can you tell me, but so far, what are your thoughts on the area around your house . From what i understand, they evacuated the carneros inn, which is about a half hour from our house. Artesia winery i understand is in real, real danger, if not gone. Starnetta dairy, on the sonoma side, it was already gone as well. My brotherinlaw told me he got to the house and the fire already jumped to our side of the highway, so we dont know whats going on there yet. Reporter i mean, when you hear that, we dont know if we have a house to go back to, what goes through your mind . What are your thoughts right now . Um, just, you know, its surreal. Its surreal. I cant believe its really happening. Ive been in a lot of disasters, but this is the first time ive ever been in a shelter. Reporter talk to me about the shelter, about the setup inside, about the people who youve met. And i know youve been trying to help out as much as you can. Yes. The people here are doing a great job, and who i know, her brothers going to be one of our residents, but shes heading it up and shes doing a fantastic job. Its organized. They have enough cots. They have water, they have food. The people, actually, theres people sleeping calmly, so its very well organized. Reporter you know, and i wanted to talk a little bit about the conditions right here. Its not very smokey, but its certainly windy. What was it like when you were actually evacuating, when you were driving out so close to the fire . Were you seeing ash . Were you feeling those gusts of wind . We felt the heat. Y windy. We inhaled the ash. It was like a movie. It was like a movie. Reporter certainly not a movie that you want to be in. No. Reporter tito, thank you so much for your time. Youre welcome. Reporter thank you for sharing your experience. Again, as you can see, people are lined up here to help unload this latest Disaster Relief trailer. A lot of people, though, begging for information. Right before you came to us live, reggie, there was a man who came up saying, youre with the news, what can you tell me . Have they gotten control of the fires yet . So, people are starved for information out here, but they are certainly being taken care of at this Evacuation Center. But again, as you heard, many of these individuals not minutes to leave the house but seconds. And right now we are grateful talking to the medics who are here on scene that they have not had to treat anyone for burns at this location. We have heard some reports that have been unconfirmed about individuals who may have been burned, but no one here has suffered any burns from the fire, so these people have gotten out in time. Again, you can see the boxes being unloaded, but a very long, scary night for so many people here. Reggie, back to you. Yeah, tiffany, ill take it, actually. As we talk about those Evacuation Centers, we are so happy to learn that those folks are not injured. Lets show you those other Evacuation Centers that have been set up in napa and sonoma counties. In napa county, you can go to the napa county fairgrounds in calistoga on oak street. Evacuees can also go to Crosswalk Community church on first street in napa. Meanwhile, in Sonoma County, the finley Community Center has been opened to evacuees. That is on west College Avenue in santa rosa. There is also another shelter over at santa rosa Veterans Memorial hall, and that address there on your screen, 1351 maple avenue. Thats where if you are watching this from home and you need a place to go or you fear youre going to be evacuated or youre getting that knock on the door, then we do have those listed on our website, abc7news. Com. Look at those flames, reggie. This is incredible. And just a few minutes ago, we saw some pictures, live pictures from santa rosa, where our colleague, amy hollyfield, is now reporting, and she was talking about how the fire had jumped 101 and there were so many folks who were trying to get out of that area. So far, it has been an orderly process, but of course, its only 3 53 in the morning, and there are a lot of people who are still waiting and wondering if theyre going to have to evacuate, so were going to be watching that closely. I want to get to the phone with valia ramos, a supervisor in napa county. Thank you so much for joining us. Can you tell us what is happening right now in your area . Thank you so much for having us and for spreading the message. Right now we remain in evacuation mode because this is not a fire that we are fighting at this moment. Its unpredictable. The winds are not helping us. We remain in strict evacuation mode at this time. We have four principal fires that we are focusing on from a life safety standpoint. Thats the one up in calistoga in that petrified forest, the lane valley area. In the atlas peak area, which encompasses monticello road, atlas peak road and soda canyon road. And now down including new mandatory evacuation through all of the avenues, first avenue, second avenue, third avenue, fourth avenue, north avenue, wild horse, which is probably new from your last update. And then we also have the fire out in the carneros area. We have evacuations from 121 to buman. Buman to henry and henry over to dealy and back up to old sonoma road. We have additional mandatory evacuations for that carneros road. So, that is on both sides of 121 right now, the carneros inn area and theres a mandatory evacuation. We also have partrick road, which has mandatory evacuations, but that has not grown in the evacuation zone as of yet. You mentioned so many different roads now being evacuated. You mentioned some new evacuation areas. Do you have any idea of how many folks are being evacuated, what the number is there of people being affected by this . At this time, we dont know. We simply are in were in lifesaving mode right now. We are in evacuation mode. Our key focus is to get the people out, and we simply havent had a moment to even regroup and count those numbers. Okay. And we dont foresee that well be able to do that anytime soon. I know that at one of our Evacuation Centers we have about 30 people. At the other one, we have about 80 people. We foresee and are planning that should we exceed 175 at Crosswalk Community church, we will be prepared to open an additional third Evacuation Center, and thats in the works right now. But as of right now, we dont have numbers. All i know is that we have many communities that are in peril right now in napa county. And the best advice that we can give anyone is to grab your neighbors and go. If you feel unsafe, grab your neighbors and go. If youre on one of our road closure lists, if you are on one of our mandatory evacuation lists, grab your neighbors and go. We do have deputies on the ground, we have fire crews on the ground, we have an order of 24 strike teams to come from around the state to us. We did receive from the state cal oes director mark sarigucci, we know that the fire mutual aid is coming to us. But right now, the focus is evacuations, get safe, get out. And valia, as you tell people to get out, grab their neighbors and go, is there a recommendation as what they should be preparing if they dont have a mandatory evacuation yet, or do you just suggest that if you feel in any way threatened to pack a small bag and get out of there before someone comes knocking on your door . Absolutely. If you feel unsafe, you know, these fires are moving quickly. They have crossed over roads, and be prepared to leave. What we do have in place is for people with small animals, the napa county shelter is open and taking and housing your animals so that you do not run into a problem staying at our Evacuation Centers. And we also have an Equestrian Center on el centro on el centro avenue in napa that is receiving large animals, and thats horses and any other large animals. And thats valley brook Equestrian Center at 1255 el centro avenue. So, grab your furry pals, grab your neighbors, and go. Weve got some troublesome hours ahead of us. The winds are expected to start tailing, start coming back. Noon is about the quickest relief we believe we will have. So truly, the next eight hours, theyre going to be rough. We still are going to be in evacuation mode. As long as those winds are moving, we are in evacuation mode, and we just ask people to get to safety. Is there a place, what is the most uptodate place where that information is getting into they can look up . The most the most current information is coming off the countys facebook page. That is absolutely the most up to date. Also, we are sending out advisories of roads and evacuations. You can text the zip code, 94558 to 888777 and your zip code. That is coming straight out of our eoc where im sitting right now and you will get the most uptodate information. Thats very good info. I appreciate getting that. So you heard the supervisor say to text your zip code to 888777
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