Crews make gains in California Wine Country wildfires: ‘We’ve turned a corner’

After a week of historic devastation, firefighters in Northern California’s Wine Country appeared to be finally gaining the upper hand on a cluster of destructive wildfires, officials said Sunday.

“Conditions have drastically changed from just 24 hours ago, and that is definitely a very good sign,” said Daniel Berlant, spokesman for Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting agency, according to the Associated Press. “It’s probably a sign we’ve turned a corner on these fires.”

High winds that had been predicted over the weekend did not materialize, helping fire crews defend the historic center of Sonoma and the resort town of Calistoga, where evacuation orders were lifted Sunday.

The news was not all good, though. The death toll from the wildfires rose to at least 40 on Sunday with 5,700 structures and more than 200,000 acres burned. About 75,000 people were still under evacuation orders. More than 100,000 people — about one-fifth of Sonoma County’s population — have been evacuated over the past week. Together, it is the most destructive fire event in California history.

The 35,000-acre Tubbs fire, which was the deadliest and caused the most destruction in the city of Santa Rosa, was 60% contained Sunday, officials said. The Atlas fire, which was burning largely in Napa County, was 56% contained Sunday after burning more than 51,000 acres. Less contained were the Nuns fire, the product of four separate fires that merged, which was 25% contained, and the Oakmont fire, which was expanding to the east of Santa Rosa. Cal Fire officials said they expect the Sonoma County wildfires to be fully contained by Friday.

“They’re not going down easy, but we’re getting them, and we feel a lot better about it,” Cal Fire Incident Commander Bret Gouvea said Sunday, according to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat.

In Mendocino County, the 35,000-acres Redwood Valley fire, responsible for at least eight deaths, was 35% contained.

The National Weather Service said Sunday that welcome rain could arrive in the area Thursday, giving fire crews an additional boost. Favorable winds also blew much of the smoke that had blanketed the San Francisco Bay Area last week out to sea, significantly improving air quality for the nation’s sixth-largest metropolitan area.

Statewide, about 11,000 firefighters were still battling at least 15 blazes.

“It has been kind of a hellish week. Everyone in Sonoma is ready for this to end,” one resident told the San Francisco Chronicle.