Napa County fire crews prepared for possible fires due to Red Flag Warning conditions
Much of Northern California was under a Red Flag Warning on Wednesday as temperatures soared into the triple digits with low humidity and strong winds from the north.
At CalFire LNU's (Sonoma Lake Napa Unit) headquarters in St. Helena in Napa County, firefighters were on high alert with all stations at peak staffing. There were additional firefighting aircraft on standby and pre-positioned strike teams in select areas, as well.
From the headquarters, burn scars were visible from the fires that have ravaged the county time and time again starting with the Tubbs Fire in 2017, the Kincade Fire in 2019 and the Glass Fire in 2020.
"Everyone who lives here drives by it every day, and it's that constant reminder that some people may try to tune it out a little bit, but not those that were heavily impacted, not those that had to evacuate," said Jason Clay with CalFire LNU.
He's been with CalFire for a little over a year but said even in his relatively short time with the unit, he can feel the anxiousness from the surrounding community on these Red Flag days.
"The number of phone calls we've received today for the smoke in the region from the fires up north, there's a lot of concern," said Clay.
"It's this time of the year when our firefighters start to be extra vigilant and ready to go for the long haul as these wind-driven fires can go and damage communities across California," said LNU Chief Mike Marcucci.
He said Red Flag days are a reminder of why it's so important to be prepared to evacuate if a fire does get close and also to create defensible space around homes and businesses.
"We don't have enough fire engines to put one in everybody's driveway when we're talking about tens of thousands of homes. Can your house resist fire? Is it a fortress against fire? If it's not, what can you do to assist with that?" said Chief Marcucci.
Here in Napa County, there are reminders everywhere about how destructive a fire can be once it gets going.
"The people who got that call in the middle of the night and all the hard work that was done to try to get people out safely and then the lasting impact of it is another thing that you think about seeing all the black," said Clay as he looks out over an area burned by the Glass Fire.
The Red Flag Warnings were allowed to expire Wednesday night as scheduled. No major fires started during that time.
