The Kincade Fire was a wildfire that burned in Sonoma County, California in the United States. The fire started northeast of Geyserville in The Geysers on 9:24 p.m. on October 23, 2019 and subsequently burned until the fire was fully contained on November 6, 2019. The fire threatened over 90,000 structures and caused widespread evacuations throughout Sonoma County, including the communities of Geyserville, Healdsburg, and Windsor. The majority of Sonoma County and parts of Lake County were under evacuation warnings. The fire was the largest of the 2019 California wildfire season, and also the largest wildfire ever to occur in Sonoma County.
The fire
The Kincade Fire was reported burning at John Kincade Road and Burned Mountain Road in The Geysers, northeast of Geyserville, California, at 9:57 PM on October 23, 2019. The fire started at 9:24 PM during an extreme wind event. The cause of the fire has not yet been confirmed by a formal investigation, but a compulsory report shows that the fire started when a 230,000 volt transmission line failed near the point of origin, just before power was about to be shut off in the area. On October 26, PG&E began shutting off power in an attempt to prevent additional fires, leaving an estimated three million people without power. On October 28, the California Public Utilities Commission announced an investigation into the shutoffs. "Despite the latest shutdowns, PG&E admitted last week that its equipment may have started the Kincade fire," said the San Jose Mercury News in an editorial condemning the utility's practices and calling for regulatory action.
Impact
The fire "chewed through more than 100 square miles and destroyed or damaged over 120 buildings." Eighty thousand more structures were threatened by the fire, and PG&E said it had cut off power to more than a million customers. According to the Federal Communications hundreds of cell phone towers were down because of power shutoffs. The Soda Rock Winery in Healdsburg was destroyed and the Field Stone Vineyard was heavily damaged.
Evacuations
On October 26, mandatory evacuations had been issued for 90,000 people. As the fire spread, by October 27, evacuation orders and warnings grew to encompass nearly all of Sonoma County, including about 190,000 people, making it the largest evacuation ever in Sonoma County. Many people were forced to flee in the darkness due to ongoing power shutoffs in the region. The Sonoma County government, in conjunction with Esri, published an containing incidents and evacuation zones associated with the fires.
Utilities
In the early weeks of the fire, PG&E initiated a massive power shut-off to nearly 940,000 customers by October 26, with a projected total number of customers impacted to be close to 2.5 to 2.8 million. There were to be six phases of power shutoff between October 26 and 27. The outages did not go over well. "The issue isn't even all of the power shutoffs," said Mendocino County chief executive Carmel Angelo. "It's the lack of communication." Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transitcommuter rail offered free service between October 30 and November 6 initially as far north as Downtown Santa Rosa, then eventually on the whole line for those needing transportation alternatives.
