Fire season is a bad one..

North Bay fires explode overnight, heading into Vacaville

Amy Graff

The LNU Lightning Complex fire exploded overnight and an arm of raging blaze was heading into Vacaville Wednesday morning, leading to another series of evacuations. Officials told residents to get out immediately.

Evacuations were ordered in Vacaville for all residents of Pleasants Valley Road and the English Hills area as flames raced across roadways.

The Solano County Sheriff’s Department told residents to leave their homes west of Blue Ridge Road to I-505 in Vacaville and north of Cherry Glen Road to Highway 128. (Find complete list of evacuations below.)

The raging blaze has charred 46,225 acres (or 72 square miles) and was zero percent contained, according to Wednesday morning status report from Cal Fire. To put that in perspective, that's a little more than the size of the city of San Francisco.

"Extreme fire behavior with short and long range spotting are continuing to challenge firefighting efforts," Cal Fire said.

Cal Fire spokesperson Will Powers told KTVU much of the fire was tearing through rural areas with steep terrain that's difficult for crews to access.

Some 50 structures have been destroyed and 50 damaged, according to Cal Fire, and multiple news reports specifically noted several homes were burned near Highway 128 and the community of Winters overnight. Nearly 2,000 homes are currently threatened. (The full status report can be seen here.)

Nichelini Winery in St. Helena shared Tuesday afternoon its facilities are threatened by a wildfire burning in the region.

"The fire continues to be close but Cal Fire is amazing and working very hard to keep us safe," the winery shared on Facebook. "Thank you to those who are working so hard to make sure we can exist for another 130 years."

The winery, founded in 1890, is one of the state's oldest. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The following areas are under evacuation, according to Cal Fire's Wednesday status report:

Napa County

Evacuation order:

—Highway 128 from Lower Chiles Valley Road to Monticello Road
—Highway 128 from Chiles Pope Valley Road to Lower Chiles Valley
Road
—Chiles Pope Valley Road from Highway 128 to Lower Chiles Valley
Road
—All of Hennessey Ridge Road.
—From Moskowite Corner to Wooden Valley Rd, Including the
community of Circle Oaks
—Atlas Peak from the Bubbing Well Pet Cemetary at 2462 Atlas Peak
Rd to the dead end
—From Loma Vista Rd / Soda Canyon Rd to the dead end.
—All of Steele Canyon Rd from Hwy 128 to and including the Berryessa
Highlands Sub Divison
—Wragg Canyon Rd - from Hwy 128 to the end of the road, including
—Chiles Pope Valley Road - From Lower Chiles Valley Road to Pope
Canyon Road

Sonoma County

Evacuation 0rder:

—North of Austin Creek Recreational Area
—East of The Cedars
—Mill Creek Road west of the intersection of Puccioni Road
—South of Stewarts Point Skaggs Springs Road
—South of Stewarts Point Skaggs Springs Road
—West of West Dry Creek Road and Westside Road
—North of Sweetwater Springs Road and McCray Ridge Road
—East of the East Austin Creek (the actual creek)

Evacuation Warning:
—West of Meyers Grade Road to the coast
—South of Fort Ross Road
—North of Russian Gulch State Beach
—North of Austin Cree Recreational Area
—East of Cedars
—West of Mill Creek Rd
—South of Stewarts Point-Skaggs Spring Road

An evacuation center is set up at Crosswalk Community Church at 2590 First St. in Napa. (Find evacuation updates on the Napa County Sheriff's Office Nixle page.)

People can bring their pets to the Napa County Animal Shelter 942 Hartle Court in Napa.

Napa County

Hennessey Fire: Near Hennessey Ridge Road and Chiles Pope Valley Road, east of St. Helena, 12,500 acres

Gamble Fire: Centered around Berryessa Knoxville Road, west of the town of Brooks, 13,000 acres

Green Fire: Near Putah Creek Bridge and Berryessa Knoxville Road, 8,000 acres

Markley Fire: Near the Monticello Dam, 5,000 acres

Spanish Fire: Near Spanish Flat, 4,000 acres

Sonoma County

Wallbridge Fire: West of Healdsburg, 1,500 acres

Myers Fire: North of Jenner, 25 acres