Firefighters trapped by thick shoreline and dead trees in the scar from the 1995 vision of Vision struggled to gain ground Friday night on a wildfire that burned 2,259 acres in the Point Reyes National Seashore.
The Woodward fire was contained 5% at the end of the third day of the fire. It continued to fight a forest that was lined with bishop’s pine trees and stretched about as far west as the Pacific Ocean.
Firefighters issued new evacuation warnings for Olema, Inverness, Inverness Park and Sea Haven on Friday afternoon, when the wind picked up and blew to the northeast, threatening to move the fire from the far shore into populated neighborhoods of Marin.
The southern edge of the fire also swallowed its way to Bolinas. An evacuation warning has been in effect since Tuesday for the 11.5-mile area west of Highway 1 between Sir Francis Drake Boulevard in Olema south to Bolinas.
“We have you ready,” Marin County Fire Chief Jason Weber said in a briefing Thursday morning.
Time span of the #woodwardfire burning in Pt. Reyes today off the Mt. Fisy camera pic.twitter.com/7yKpJUNn96
Matthew Pera (@MatthewRPera) 21 August 2020
The warnings are designed to give residents time to prepare for the possibility of an evacuation board, Weber said.
Officials have closed the Point Reyes National Seashore and are urging visitors to divert the coast to keep roads open for firefighters.
There are no roads in the footprint of the fire, and the cramped, rough terrain makes it difficult for firefighters to access the flame. The forest floor is infested with Douglas fir and knobbone pine trees that burned and fell during the Vision fire, which burned 12,354 acres and in 1995 destroyed 45 homes.
“That’s really what hurts us at the moment,” said National Park Commander Bernard Spielman. “Those dead trees create great dangers for our arsonists on the ground.”
Deputies on the #woodwardfire the scoopers caught water on the fire. pic.twitter.com/HmM1U4NDU1
– Marin County Sheriff (@MarinSheriff) 21 August 2020
Firefighters have been working in the park since Monday, when a lightning strike struck with the 4-5 fire. The Woodward Fire, which was reported for the first time Tuesday, could have started as a mockery of that fire, if it could be triggered by another lightning strike, Weber said.
With wildfires raging in Northern and Central California, firefighters are working without much backup and equipment is limited.
“We’re all a little exhausted,” Margt County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Brenton Schneider, who serves as spokesman for the fire.
A long-awaited air strike on Thursday helped slow the growth of the fire, and more air support returned on Friday afternoon.
“The fire would have been much bigger than it is if we didn’t have that,” Weber said.
Air support came after the fire broke Thursday from 1,500 to 2,000 acres. Pilots dropped retardant around the blaze, focusing the attack on the north side of the fire to prevent it from ripping from a mountainous range to a lower valley area, Weber said.
The National Water Service has issued a fire watch for the Bay Area from Sunday morning until Tuesday. Isolated thunderstorms are expected as a result of residual moisture from previous Hurricane Genevieve and improperly high winds with loads up to 60 mph may accompany them, the weather service said.
Heavy smoke billows through Marin County and into San Francisco. Bay Area’s air levels have resulted in some of the worst air quality in the world and has asked the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to issue a ‘Spare the Air’ warning through Sunday.
Marin’s health officials have also issued health advice, urging people infected with or exposed to the coronavirus to take extra precautions to limit exposure to smoke.
