Fire news

Latest Kincade Fire news: Containment drops to 5% after intense winds on Sunday

By Amy Graff, Katie Dowd and Alix Martichoux

Cal Fire announced it will be holding a news conference at 9 a.m. Monday morning with the latest news from the Kincade Fire. Overnight, the fire grew to 66,231 acres. Containment is still at 5%.

Fire activity was moving swiftly toward Larkfield-Wikiup and Mark West, two unincorporated communities of Sonoma County north of Santa Rosa, late Sunday night. Sheriff's deputies were using sirens to warn any remaining residents and order them to evacuate immediately.

An immediate evacuation order for the neighborhood around Faught Road, from Shiloh Road to Old Redwood Highway. The neighborhood is east of Highway 101 and south of Shiloh Ranch Regional Park. Residents there had already been warned to evacuate, but deputies made a final pass through the area to ensure everyone was out.

Containment of the massive Kincade Fire has dropped down to 5% due to vicious winds on the fire lines throughout Sunday.

The morning began with 10% containment of the blaze, but gusts of over 100 miles per hour helped spread the flames rapidly.

"We're continuing to see the erratic fire spread," said fire behavior analyst Steve Volmer at a Cal Fire press conference late Sunday.

The fire has reached the edge of the town of Windsor, but Cal Fire authorities said the fire line was holding steady there for now. A weakening of Sunday's hurricane-force winds should help with the fight.

"It looks like we have about a 24-hour window of favorable weather Monday into Tuesday," National Weather Service meteorologist Mark Walbrun said.

Unfortunately, another wind event is in the forecast for Tuesday, and there's no rain in sight through the end of the month.

No additional evacuation orders have been issued since early Sunday afternoon, although evacuees are also not yet permitted to return to their homes. Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick said one "unauthorized" person was found in an evacuated neighborhood by police and arrested for reentry into an unauthorized area. Essick said the individual could not prove they were a resident in the neighborhood.

CHP said they will reopen southbound Highway 101 shortly, but northbound lanes will continue to remain closed indefinitely.