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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019 • SANTA ROSA, CALIFORNIA • PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM

WIND A WORRY » Gusts HELP ON WAY » Firefighter MALFUNCTION » PG&E

to pick up this weekend force to swell on Friday tower under scrutiny

Path of destruction

KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A home burns off Geysers Road early Thursday from the Kincade fire that started in The Geysers on Wednesday night and rolled onto the Alexander Valley floor.

Ominous warning PG&E tower

for weekend as even
worse winds forecast
SCOPE OF THE By JULIE JOHNSON
KINCADE FIRE AND GUY KOVNER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
16,000 A ravenous, wind-driven
Acres burned
wildfire descended on the pic-
5% turesque north Sonoma Coun-
ty Wine Country on Thursday,
Containment forcing about 2,000 people to
as of Thursday flee during dry conditions that
evening reminded people of the deadly
2,000 North Bay firestorm two years
ago, with more ominous weath-
People under er expected this weekend.
mandatory The Kincade fire, expanding
evacuation by about 1,000 acres per hour,
burned down one of the steepest
49 flanks of the Mayacamas Moun-
Total structures tains into the Alexander Valley,
reported a patchwork of vineyards, farms
destroyed and ranches known for produc-
ing world-class wines.
76 MPH A firefighting force of about
Top wind gusts 1,300 battled the fire that had
overnight burned 16,000 acres near Gey-
Wednesday serville and was 5% contained
Thursday night, Cal Fire Inci-
80 MPH dent Commander Mike Park-
es said at a news conference
Strongest wind
gusts forecast Thursday night in Geyserville.
for Saturday Forty-nine structures, includ-
TURN TO OMINOUS » PAGE A7
BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Susan and Ed Moore evacuate their home in Geyserville on Thursday. Zac Lewis, below, of
the Cloverdale Fire Department battles the fire off Geysers Road early Thursday.
MORE INSIDE
■ Geyserville area residents
describe fleeing from the fast-
moving blaze / A3
■ PG&E turns power back on
for customers in county / A3
■ Chefs pitch in to feed first
responders and evacuees / A3
■ Vegetation fires quickly
contained in Santa Rosa and
Marin County; SR duplex fire
also extinguished / A5
KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
broken near
fire’s origin
By RANDI ROSSMANN
AND WILL SCHMITT
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A PG&E transmission line
experienced problems mo-
ments before the 16,000-acre
Kincade fire started inside The
Geysers, a sprawling complex
of geothermal energy facilities
nestled in the mountains be-
tween Sonoma and Lake coun-
ties, according to a utility filing
with state regulators.
Cal Fire later discovered a
broken piece of equipment on a
PG&E transmission tower that
was not deactivated during a
power shutdown initiated by the
San Francisco-based utility be-
fore the fire broke out Wednes-
day night, the company re-
ported in a filing with the state
Public Utilities Commission.
PG&E said it became aware
of a problem on a 230-kilovolt
transmission line running
through The Geysers at about
9:20 p.m. Wednesday. The fire
was first reported at 9:26 p.m.,
when firefighters were sent to a
TURN TO ORIGIN » PAGE A8

Wine properties destroyed

ALEXANDER VALLEY »
Sprinklers just weren’t
enough to save vines
By TYLER SILVY
AND MARY CALLAHAN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
The Kincade fire, driven by
fierce winds, whipped through
choice vineyards and Sonoma
County Wine Country estates,
damaging or destroying some of
the region’s most valuable prop-
erty.
In the midst of the smoke and
haze that hung thick as the mer-
cury rose over the Alexander
Valley, Jackson Family Wines
scion Julia Jackson’s home,
and numerous buildings on the
Jackson Family estate, were de-
stroyed.
At least a half-dozen homes
— and more structures — were
destroyed in areas around High-
way 128, Red Winery Road and
Geysers Road.
By midday Thursday, smoke
still seeped from intact tree
trunks and fire crackled along
wooden fence lines. With winds
dead, sticky smoke clung above
its source material — buildings
that succumbed overnight.
The acrid smell hung rich in
the air, clashing with the leafy,
green and yellow rows of grape-
vines. Many vineyard owners,
even those who had already har-
vested, turned their sprinklers
on Wednesday night in an effort
to keep the wind-driven fire at
bay, Supervisor James Gore
said.
It wasn’t enough.
Gore toured the destruction
about noon, checking up on con-
stituents’ properties.
Some of the affected land-
owners were among the wealth- TYLER SILVY / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A building smolders in ruins on the Jackson Family Wines property
TURN TO WINE » PAGE A2 Thursday along Red Winery Road in Geyserville.

ONLINE: SEE MORE PHOTOS, VIDEOS AND INTERACTIVE MAPS FROM THE KINCADE FIRE AT PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM

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A2
“Using a generator to fuel his pump at his winery? It’s crazy.”
SUPERVISOR JAMES GORE, on Garden Creek Vineyards owner Justin Miller’s use of a generator to run a water pump in firefighting efforts
WINE
CONTINUED FROM A1
iest in the county, representing
longtime Sonoma County wine
families, including the Jackson
family, owners of the ninth-larg-
est wine company in the United
States, which took a direct hit.
The family, including Jackson
Family Wines Chairwoman Bar-
bara Banke, Julia’s mother, evac-
uated Wednesday night. Banke
was on the phone with Gore as
he talked through the news: the
so-called Redwood House — the
one that served as a focal point
for entertaining — was gone.
So was Jackson’s house.
Gore said Banke’s demeanor
on the phone was somber.
“But also very focused on what
needed to happen to save other
houses on the ranch,” Gore said.
Banke’s private security team
saved her residence off Red Win-
ery Road.
“It was a long freaking night,”
one person said. “But we saved
the house.”
The wildfire started Wednes-
day night and had consumed
more than 16,000 acres by Thurs-
day evening, as crews battled to
gain the upper hand in calmer
conditions. The Kincade fire
comes a little more than two
years after fires in Sonoma Coun-
ty killed 24 people and destroyed
more than 5,300 homes.
Jackson announced the loss of
her home on Facebook in a stark
Thursday morning post, stating,
“My home burnt to the ground
last night.”
Jackson, founder of the
Grounded Foundation and Sum-
mit on climate change a year
ago, continued: “Stuff is just
stuff, thank god I’m alive. This
is why I’m doing the work I’m
doing. This is why. This is why.
#climatecrisis Grounded.”
Jackson chronicled her de-
parture from home the previous
night, posting photos of orange
flames and smoke in the night as
she took her leave. At one point
about 11 p.m. Wednesday, she not-
ed that the wildfire had come with-
in about 4 miles of her home and
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A gas line flares in the foreground of what appears to be vineyard worker housing Thursday in Geyserville. The
structure was one of at least 49 destroyed by the Kincade fire that broke out Wednesday night.
that she had a “long night ahead.”
An hour later, she posted a brief
video shot through the windshield
of a moving car passing through
smoke in the dark of night as it
passed 11 fire engines and trucks
coming the opposite direction.
Cal Fire crews told Gore the
structures were already burning
when they arrived.
Along with the Jacksons, the
Robert Young Estate Winery
and Vineyard and Garden Creek
Vineyards suffered damage to
their properties.
Robert Young Estate Winery
posted at 8 a.m. on Facebook that
the fire had reached the property
but not the winery or the tasting
room.
“Our family and team are safe.
We are very grateful to the fire
crews working hard to fight this
fire,” the statement read.
Jordan Winery on Alexander
Valley Road in Healdsburg was
closed. So was Francisco Ford
Coppola Winery in Geyserville.
“The winery is not currently
in danger, but we are without
power and the town of Geyser-
ville is under evacuation orders.
Our thoughts are with our Gey-
serville friends and neighbors,
along with the fire crews and
first responders working to keep
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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019
burned down, and the husk of a
car sat beside the still-smolder-
ing rubble. A broken gas line
continued to flare, providing a
white noise whisper between the
roar of passing fire trucks.
Among those who fled from
the path of the Kincade fire
were scores of vineyard work-
ers, many asleep in farmworker
housing when the call to evac-
uate came through in the early
morning hours Thursday.
They included 80 or 85 who
eventually found shelter at the
Healdsburg Community Center,
where grape picking crews from
several vineyards landed after
their housing had been cleared
because of the approaching
blaze, said Ariel Kelley, chief
executive officer of Corazon
Healdsburg, a nonprofit agency
TYLER SILVY / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT helping to coordinate volunteers.
Kelley said most don’t know if
they have housing to return to.
Between those who have been
op winery on Hassett Lane in evacuated and others in need of
Healdsburg. He is done with har- help because of PG&E’s preemp-
vest and the wines are safely in tive power outage, which made
barrel, he said Thursday morn- food storage and cooking diffi-
ing. The tasting room in Healds- cult, the community center pro-
burg was open. vided a place to obtain a meal or
Harvest and crush activities assistance such as family assis-
continue at other wineries. Chad tance for housing or grocery gift
Clark, manager of North Coast cards for those who lost a house
operations for Allied Grape or were without power, she said.
Growers, said four truckloads of “Basically, we’re just going
fruit from Lake County and Dry (through) a ‘rinse and repeat’ of
Creek could not be delivered to 2017” — a reference to aid provid-
two wineries in the fire area and ed during the North Bay firestorm
were rerouted to other facilities. of October 2017, she said.
Justin Miller owns Garden It was likely that some of those
Creek and spent the night with workers would be back in fields
KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT his crew of workers, battling the Thursday night or Friday morn-
The Kincade fire burned several blaze. ing, as growers were working
buildings at the Jackson Family His jeans and shirt were cov- frantically behind the scenes to
Wines compound near Geyserville. ered in dirt, and his eyes were save grapes from the heat.
bloodshot as Miller talked with Karissa Kruse, president of
us safe,” the winery said in a Gore, his smoke mask pulled Sonoma County Winegrowers,
statement posted on Facebook. down to his neck. Miller detailed was busy Thursday afternoon co-
DeLorimier Winery was some of the crew’s firefighting ordinating between growers, the
closed. “We are under manda- efforts, including the need to use California Agriculture Commis-
tory evacuation, but as of right a generator to run a water pump. sioner’s Office and the Sonoma
now our winery is safe. Thinking “Using a generator to fuel County Sheriff’s Office to pave
of our neighbors and praying his pump at his winery?” Gore the way for picking.
for a positive outcome. We are said. “It’s crazy. That’s how all Grapes for cabernet sauvignon
incredibly thankful for the first of these old volunteer fire com- are still on the vine in the Alex-
responders who are tirelessly panies started after the fires in ander Valley. The full-bodied
working to keep everyone safe.” ’64. They’re like, ‘We need to take wine relies on a thick-skinned
John Hart, owner and wine- care of our own sh--.’ ” grape that doesn’t turn red until
maker at Hart’s Desire Wines, Along Miller’s property, what later. Kruse said they’re one of
said he could not reach his co- looked to be worker housing had the last grapes harvested.
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The North Coast

KINCADE FIRE » WINERIES FACE DESTRUCTION OUTAGES

PG&E
begins to
restore
power
Company warns there
may be larger shut-offs
coming this weekend
By KEVIN FIXLER
AND CHANTELLE LEE
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

PG&E began restoring power

Thursday afternoon to nearly
179,000 customers across North-
ern California affected by the
preemptive shut-off that started
the day before, just as the utili-
ty warned residents that it may
unplug an even larger group of
customers this weekend.
It marked the second time in
October the bankrupt utility cut
power to large swaths of its ser-
vice territory from Bakersfield
to Eureka to reduce the risks of
its equipment sparking a wild-
fire. Residents and elected lead-
ers up to Gov. Gavin Newsom
lambasted PG&E for the scope
of the outage two weeks ago
BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
that affected 750,000 customers
A firefighter battles a blaze in a Geyserville vineyard on Thursday. For the first time in memory, sections of north Sonoma County’s prime in Northern and Central Cali-

Valuable vineyards
vineyards in the Geyserville area, as well as homes and structures, were torched by a wildfire. fornia, including 66,000 in Sono-
ma County.
By Thursday evening, about
70% of the 28,000 customers af-
fected by the latest temporary
blackout had their power re-
stored, PG&E spokesman J.D.

caught in blaze’s path

Guidi said Thursday night. Al-
though the utility turned the
power back on for some Santa
Rosa customers Thursday after-
noon, Sonoma County emergen-
cy management officials said
full restoration here could take
until 7 p.m. Friday.
The utility had restored pow-
Homes owned by prominent winemakers torched by wildfires er to about 165,000 customers
across 16 counties by Thursday
night, but 13,268 customers still
By MARTIN ESPINOZA, TYLER SILVY were in the dark, Guidi said.
AND JULIE JOHNSON “The goal is to restore the
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT majority of customers within
48 hours,” PG&E spokeswom-

F
GEYSERVILLE
lames from the Kincade fire crept across a
newly planted wine grape vineyard early
Thursday morning at Wasson Family Farms
in the sparsely populated Alexander Valley re-
gion.
Tracy McCall, granddaughter of the late Ruby
Wasson, matriarch of the family, stood on the west
side of Highway 128 with her husband, James Mc-
Call, lamenting there was no electricity to power
the well pump that provides water for multiple
family properties.
“We have no water to defend ourselves,” James
McCall said surrounded by a smoky haze.
“This is my family’s ranch,” Tracy McCall said,
as she looked at the stubby, scorched grapevines.
“They just planted it. Watching it burn is heart-
breaking.”
For the first time in memory, sections of
north Sonoma County’s prime vineyards in the
TURN TO SCENE » PAGE A4
an Deanna Contreras said.
“The (power) lines that pick up
the most customers, the goal is
to restore them as safety and
quickly as possible.”
It was unclear, she said, when
it would be safe to restore pow-
er in areas near the Kincade
fire, which started Wednesday
minutes before 9:30 p.m. in the
mountainous northeastern part
of the county near the Lake
County line, and prompted a
mandatory evacuation in Gey-
serville. By Thursday night, the
fire burned 16,000 acres and de-
stroyed 49 structures.
Peak wind gusts were mea-
sured at 76 mph overnight in the
CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT wildfire area, said Drew Peter-
The Vyborny residence along Highway 128 is reduced to rubble by the Kincade fire son, National Weather Service
in Geyserville on Thursday.
TURN TO POWER » PAGE A5

Chefs feed firefighters, evacuees

HEALDSBURG »
Restaurateurs became
new group of responders
By HEATHER IRWIN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
If Chef Dustin Valette looks a
bit relaxed while making sand-
wiches for 60, it’s only because
he’s known a first responder his
whole life.
The Healdsburg restaura-
teur snapped into action early
Thursday morning to coordi-
nate food relief efforts for Kin-
cade fire evacuees. By 10 a.m.
— just about the time his dad,
veteran Cal Fire air tanker pi-
lot Bob Valette, was taking off
from Sonoma County airport
— Valette was gathering bread,
gleaning tomatoes and working
out a game plan with nearby
restaurateurs.
Local chefs have become a
new group of first responders,
and when news broke of the
uncontained fire east of Gey-
serville, communication lines
between restaurants and food
purveyors lit up.
Valette worked with three
Michelin-starred Chef Kyle
Connaughton of Single Thread
to make grain bowls. Chef Do-
menica Catelli of Geyserville’s
Catelli restaurant volunteered
for dinner duty for 200. Dozens
of others are standing by, knives
at the ready, to pitch in for the
duration.
As Valette packed up his car
with sandwiches — made with
long loaves of Costeaux French
bread, vegetables gleaned with
Healdsburg resident Dani Wil-
cox, meat and cheese from his HEATHER IRWIN / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
Chef Dustin Valette of Valette Restaurant in Healdsburg delivers food to
TURN TO CHEFS » PAGE A4 the Healdsburg Community Center on Thursday.

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A4
SCENE
CONTINUED FROM A3
Geyserville area, as well
as homes and structures
owned by some of the
county’s most prominent
winemakers were torched
by a wildfire. Driven by
fierce winds, the blaze that
ignited minutes before 9:30
Wednesday night made its
way over steep Mayacamas
Mountains rural terrain
down into the Alexander
Valley.
By dawn Thursday, res-
idents who slept awoke to
flames encroaching on the
flatlands. Several homes
along Red Winery Road
and Geysers Road still
were fully engulfed late in
the morning.
Sean Olhan, who lives on
Red Winery Road, said he
was watching the fire far off
on the other side of Black
Mountain late Wednesday
night. He went to bed think-
ing it wouldn’t reach the
valley’s flatlands. But he
was awakened by Cal Fire
firefighters at 5:30 a.m. or-
dering him to evacuate.
“Everything was blow-
ing everywhere and crack-
ling,” he said, adding that
the rolling hills just east of
his property were on fire.
“It was swirling wind, it
was just havoc.”
Olhan took his mother to
the Jimstown Store, where
he had someone pick her
up and take her to Healds-
burg. Then Olhan returned
home and watched as near-
by hills erupted in flames
and pine trees burned.
Many of Alexander Val-
ley’s vineyards did not burn
because their access roads
and the vineyards them-
selves acted as firebreaks.
“There’s no real fuel in
these vineyards,” Olhan
said. “They’re green and
they get watered. These
are Alexander Valley vine-
yards. They’re pampered.”
Although he stayed put,
many Geyserville-area res-
idents did flee the smoke
and fire and headed for an
evacuation shelter at the
Healdsburg Community
Center.
“We want to be able to
Dani Wilcox helps to prepare food at Valette on Thursday. The food was delivered to first
responders at the Healdsburg Community Center.
CHEFS
CONTINUED FROM A3
restaurant kitchen — he
realized the irony of such
fancy sandwiches in an
emergency. That’s Sono-
ma County, he said. “Your
house burns down, we feed
you,” he said.
It’s still unknown what
food relief will be needed
in the coming days, but
restaurateurs are ready.
The local food communi-
ty, including Valette and
many others, offered thou-
sands of volunteer hours,
kitchens, food and support
during the 2017 fires. Some,
like restaurateur John
Franchetti of Franchetti’s
Gasthaus, have continued
to aid fire survivors even to
this day.
There is a fine line be-
tween helping and being in
the way, and aid organizers
are relying on vetted food
providers to assist during
this time. Cal Fire and Red
Cross are telling volunteers
that it is “early hours” and
they are watching the situ-
ation to best inform coordi-
nated responses.
At the Cal Fire command
center near the Sonoma
County Fairgrounds, a
mobile kitchen is ready
to feed first responders.
The kitchen is on standby,
Ben Phillips, with Cal Fire, douses piles of wood at a vineyard along Highway 128 in Geyserville on Thursday. Driven by fierce
winds, the blaze made its way over the steep Mayacamas Mountains into Alexander Valley.
provide a comfortable
place for the people who
are being evacuated,” May-
or David Hagele said.
Sonoma County Super-
visor James Gore, whose
district encompasses the
Kincade fire, as well as
about half of the area
burned in the October 2017
blazes in Sonoma County,
said he has noticed a differ-
ence in residents’ reactions
to this fire.
“I’ve never seen our folks
so tight and so prepared,”
Gore said. “Two years ago,
that was my concern, is
that there was cacophony.”
He’s hopeful the wind
stays calm Thursday night
to enable firefighters to get
some traction on the Kin-
cade inferno that burned
uncontrollably throughout
the day.
About 2,000 people liv-
ing in the Geyserville
area were forced to evac-
uate their homes, Sonoma
County Sheriff’s spokes-
woman Misti Wood said.
About 300 of those people
quickly fled their homes
after the blaze ignited at
9:27 p.m. Wednesday.
though no employees were
able to speak in an official
capacity. The Cal Fire mo-
bile kitchen was on-site in
2017 to feed hundreds of
first responders at the fair-
grounds.
Also ready to respond is
a state-of-the-art emergen-
cy mobile kitchen built by
celebrity chefs Guy Fieri
and Jose Andres. Having
been involved in other re-
cent fire relief efforts, Fieri
has seen the devastation
left by large fires first hand
and served thousands of
displaced victims. Fieri
has worked closely with
Andres and World Central
Kitchen, an international
chef collective that works
with first responders to
provide meals in disasters.
Andres, who was nomi-
nated for a Nobel Prize for
his worldwide food relief
efforts, tweeted this morn-
ing that he and WCK were
ILLUMINATION SHOWPLACE
LAMP REPAIR - TABLE LAMPS
FLOOR LAMPS
Lampshades - Light Fixtures
Mon - Sat 11am - 5pm, Sun 1pm - 4pm
1010 Santa Rosa Avenue, Santa Rosa
707.541.7007 • illuminationshowplace.com
Dry Creek Rancheria firefighters Salvador Lopez, left, and Petro Pulido fight the Kincade fire
on a steep hillside at the River Rock Casino in Geyserville.
By 6:30 Thursday morn-
ing, the evacuation order
included the town of Gey-
serville.
Sheriff’s deputies went
door to door to homes and
businesses, blaring sirens
from their patrol cars to
warn people of the en-
croaching fire. The county
also sent Nixle alerts to
people in the evacuation
zones and issued notifi-
HEATHER IRWIN / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
here for Sonoma County if
needed.
As Valette brought sand-
wiches to the community
center, he smiled as Chef
Ken Rochioli of KR Ca-
tering also pulled up with
trays of food. Rochioli was
stopped by reporters for an
interview. Valette snuck
by, saying that he needed to
get back to his restaurant
because he had an entirely
new menu to prepare for
dinner guests. That, and
help with relief efforts to
provide Thursday’s dinner
and what may come in fu-
ture days.
“What else do I have to
do?” he said, heading to-
ward his restaurant.
You can reach Press
Democrat Dining Editor
Heather Irwin at 707-526-
8544 or heather.irwin@
pressdemocrat.com. On
Twitter @biteclubeats.
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019
serville got a Nixle alert
about 10 p.m. Wednesday
and then stayed up worry-
ing all night. When she was
about to fall asleep about
6:30 a.m. Thursday, police
ordered mandatory evacu-
ations, so she had to leave.
“I haven’t been asleep,”
she said, noting she
downed three Red Bulls. “I
couldn’t sleep, didn’t want
to sleep.”
Pomeroy took her son,
Brent Brauninger, and
daughter Lily Grace Brau-
ninger to the Healdsburg
Community Center, a des-
ignated evacuation center.
Her husband is in Colorado.
Brent, who attends
Windsor High School,
and Lily Grace, who goes
to West Side Elementa-
ry School in Healdsburg,
planned to gather with
friends since their schools
were closed.
Although Pomeroy left
the house with important
family documents and
PHOTOS BY CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT passports, the kids and
cats, she inadvertently
left her cellphone behind
during the rush to evac-
uate. Brent grabbed his
phone, but his fingers are
crossed that his 1972 Chevy
C-10 doesn’t burn.
Some residents ignored
the order to leave and
stayed in Geyserville.
Dino and Sonja Bugica,
owners of Diavola restau-
rant and pizzeria in the
center of the small town
were up all night when offi-
cials knocked on their door
and ordered them to evacu-
ate. The couple hosed down
the roof of their home and
went to their restaurant.
Shortly after 11 a.m.
Thursday, Dino Bugica
was making a half-dozen
pizzas in his wood fire oven
for firefighters and and
first responders who were
cations to residents’ cell- “It wasn’t like panic staging operations in town.
phones. mode, it was like, ‘OK, “You can always cook
In Geyserville, Bill Bou- what should we throw in with a wood fire oven,”
tin and Kaylynn Reeb got the RV?’” Boutin said. Bugica said. “During the
a Nixle alert Wednesday They headed to the last fire, people really
night about the possibili- Healdsburg shelter with needed somewhere to talk,
ty of evacuations. So they their two Schnauzers, somewhere to be normal.”
were awake when a Sono- Ranger and Watson, in
ma County sheriff’s dep- the RV where the couple You can reach Staff Writer
uty drove by early Thurs- has been living since los- Julie Johnson at 707-521-
day morning, announcing ing their home in the 2017 5220 or julie.johnson@
“mandatory evacuation, Pocket fire. pressdemocrat.com. On
evacuate now.” Alison Pomeroy of Gey- Twitter @jjpressdem.
Coming Sunday
Paying it forward
We’ve hit the two-year anniversary of the devastating North Bay firestorm.To mark the anniversary, our monthly
Rebuild special section features stories of people in Sonoma County paying it forward by lending help and
support to those recovering in Butte County from the November 2018 Camp fire, the most destructive inferno in
California history.
Tapping cider
The hard cider industry is taking off in Sonoma County. Golden State Cider, which opened a Sebastopol taproom
and moved into a Healdsburg production plant, doubled its output over the past few years.The industry is moving
to cans and is buoyed by the millennial market.
Positive steps
Sebastopol teacher Sunny Galbraith inspires her students to transform a throwaway society. She believes that
small acts make a big difference as they work together to reduce the amount of waste in the world. She’s this
month’s North Bay Spirit award winner.
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019 NORTH COAST / STATE A5

Small Trione-Annadel fire contained

4-acre blaze between
parks sets residents
of Santa Rosa on edge
By NASHELLY CHAVEZ
AND MARY CALLAHAN
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Dozens of firefighters extin-

guished a 4-acre vegetation fire
straddling Spring Lake Regional
Park and Trione-Annadel State
Park Thursday morning, where
flames were spotted in the hills
above the swimming lagoon at
the county park, fire officials
said.
The blaze was reported just be-
fore 10 a.m., drawing more than
20 engines and upward of 60 per-
sonnel from Cal Fire, the Sonoma
County Fire District and the San-
ta Rosa Fire Department, Sonoma
County Fire District Chief Mark
Heine said Thursday afternoon.
It sparked as other local fire
teams struggled against the
Kincade fire, which erupted the
night before and was fueled by
fast-moving winds in northeast
Sonoma County.
The wildfire at the edge of San-
ta Rosa was managed quickly by
comparison, in part because it
moved slower than the larger
blaze, Heine said.
Still, its proximity to populat- CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
ed areas was concerning, partic- The Delta Crew 1 inmate fire crew works on putting out a vegetation fire at Trione-Annadel State Park in Santa Rosa on Thursday.
ularly to nearby residents, Heine
said. nearby Channel Drive to gain ac- the Trione-Annadel State Park, ward progress by 12:30 p.m. and Slater Middle School and Brook
“The smoke column was going cess to the fire. from three different access point, Spring Lake remained closed for Hill Elementary kept students
into Bennett Valley, which was “It brought me back to two years though rough terrain slowed the rest of the day to allow fire- in classrooms for the day due to
making people very nervous,” ago during the Tubbs fire,” Sulli- their progress, Heine said. fighters easy access and egress the poor air quality caused by
Heine said of the smaller fire. van said. “I could see the smoke, it Firefighting aircraft were used while they battled hot spots and the fire’s smoke, Santa Rosa City
Among those monitoring the was just past these fir trees.” to combat the blaze, and fire offi- mopped up, fire officials said. School District announced.
firefight was Michael Sullivan, Spring Lake Regional Park cials used the countywide ALER- Cal Fire fire investigators were
66, whose Pepperwood Road was evacuated during the fire- TWildfire remote camera system called to the scene and will be You can reach Staff Writer Mary
home sits on the northern edge fight, though no residents were to pinpoint the fire, which was responsible for determining the Callahan at 707-521-5249 or
of the state park. The retired asked to leave the area. visible from much of Santa Rosa, case and origin of the fire, Heine mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.
pipe fitter watched from his back Crews reached the fire, which Heine said. said. com. On Twitter @MaryCalla-
porch as fire engines raced up was burning at the center of Crews stopped the blaze’s for- Montgomery High School, hanB.

POWER
CONTINUED FROM A3
meteorologist in Monterey.
The governor on Thurs-
day scolded California’s
three investor-owned utili-
ties over their handling of
the multiple blackouts. He
wrote in letters to the CEOs
of Pacific Gas & Electric Co.,
San Diego Gas & Electric
and Southern California
Edison that they have failed
to meet commitments to
limit disruption to custom-
ers in pursuit of planned
outages, such as providing
proper notice to customers
and local governments, de-
tailed information about
expected locations and peri-
ods without power and suf-
ficient services for affected
customers.
“The only consistency
has been inconsistency,”
Newsom wrote. “Going
forward, it is critical that
your utilities adhere to the
agreements and protocols
to provide transparent and
consistent notification to
state and local government
officials, to provide ade-
quately resourced commu-
nity resource centers, and
to plan for and meet the
needs of your vulnerable
customers.”
Meanwhile, Oliver’s Mar-
ket on Montecito Boulevard
in Santa Rosa was one of
many businesses that lost
power Wednesday, but
had the lights and coolers
working again Thursday
afternoon. General manag-
er Eric Meuse said PG&E
has been “very vague” in
its communication with
the store about when power
would be cut and restored,
making it difficult for the
store to operate.
His employees had to
move most of the store’s
perishable foods to other
locations, and Meuse said
it’s been challenging to
determine when the store
should restock since PG&E
warned that it may shut off
power again this weekend.
“We will only be partial-
ly restocking the shelves
until we know the power
has been restored for more
than a day,” Meuse said,
noting it’s “impossible to
manage business.”
PG&E’s communication
with the city improved
since the first power shut-
down two weeks ago, San-
ta Rosa Vice Mayor Chris
Rogers said. During that
“People are fatigued. This is an enormous
disruption to businesses and residents around
Sonoma County.”
SUSAN GORIN, Sonoma County supervisor, on the power outages
PG&E crew foreman Jeremy Woodruff restores power to the Rincon 1102 circuit on Middle
Rincon Road in Santa Rosa on Thursday.
two-day outage that start-
ed early on Oct. 9, residents
and elected officials criti-
cized California’s largest
utility for incorrectly iden-
tifying shut-off areas be-
forehand, and for its often
nonfunctional website that
was supposed to provide
customer updates.
“The public outcry was
warranted and harsh, and
I think they got that mes-
sage,” Rogers said Thurs-
day. “They’ve improved and
the public is getting more
information than the last
time around — even though
they haven’t addressed the
main point of anger, which
is a lack of investment in
making upgrades.”
County Supervisor Su-
san Gorin said the repeat
outages have taken a toll
on her constituents in Oak-
mont and Sonoma Valley.
“People are fatigued.
This is an enormous dis-
ruption to businesses and
residents around Sonoma
County,” Gorin said. “We
want to be safe, but we also
want to be able depend on
our utilities.”
But even as power start-
ed to come back Thursday
evening in areas around the
region, the torment is ex-
pected to quickly reemerge
with yet another major
dangerous weather system
looming with escalated fire
risks this weekend.
Bill Johnson, PG&E’s
chief executive, said
Thursday night the utility
is monitoring the weather
and preparing for another
“large-scale” power shut-
off this weekend, adding
that it could last even lon-
ger than two-day outage
earlier this month. Al-
ready, PG&E has started
notifying customers in the
North Bay, Sierra Foot-
hills and East Bay of the
possibility of a shutdown
that could begin Saturday
night, the CEO said. PG&E
doesn’t yet know which
specific areas could be af-
fected by the outage.
“None of us wants to be
living without power, but
we have a single, simple
and I think really import-
ant objective at work here,
which is to avoid cata-
strophic wildfires,” John-
son said. “These power
shut-offs are a necessary
tool for public safety.”
The weekend forecast,
particularly the predict-
ed winds Saturday night
up to 80 mph in the North
Bay mountains, seems om-
inous. Peterson, the meteo-
rologist, said the winds will
be the strongest of the three
fire weather systems the
North Bay has experienced
this month. The weather
service issued a fire weath-
er watch Thursday evening
for Saturday night through
Monday morning, calling
this event “the strongest of
this year and since the 2017
wine country fires.”
During the wind-driven
October 2017 firestorm that
killed 40 people — including
24 people in Sonoma Coun-
ty — and destroyed nearly
6,200 homes in the North
Bay, wind speeds reached
65 mph.
Peterson said he had “no
doubt” the weather service
CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
will upgrade the watch to a
red-flag warning, indicat-
ing critical fire risks, some-
time Friday.
Although temperatures
are expected to cool this
weekend, the low humidi-
ty levels and even stronger
winds still will be cause for
concern, said Peterson.
The dangerous weekend
weather will cover a broad-
er area, including Sonoma,
Mendocino, Napa, Marin,
Solano, Alameda, Contra
Costa, Santa Clara, Santa
Cruz, San Mateo counties,
and also potentially San
Francisco County, Peter-
son said.
PG&E, facing an esti-
mated $30 billion in wild-
fire liabilities, began using
planned power outages
last year as a fire-preven-
tion measure. This year
the utility expanded that
significantly, making the
shut-offs its primary fire
safety tactic.
With electricity still not
restored across Santa Rosa
Thursday night, the city
was bracing for an even
lengthier period without
power for an unknown
number of residents in the
coming days.
“We’re already starting
to prepare for this second
wind event that is going
to greatly impact the com-
munity,” Rogers said. “If
the potential outage starts
Saturday ... and lasts until
Monday, I won’t be sur-
prised to see the power off
until Tuesday.”
You can reach Staff Writer
Kevin Fixler at 707-521-
5336 or kevin.fixler@press-
democrat.com. On Twitter
@kfixler. Staff Writer
Chantelle Lee is available
at 707-521-5337 or chantel-
le.lee@pressdemocrat.com.
On Twitter
@ChantelleHLee.
THE REGION
MARIN COUNTY
Firefighters battle 58-acre Muir fire
Firefighters fought a fast-moving fire between
Muir and Stinson beaches in Marin County Thursday
morning that grew to 58 acres before they were able to
start building containment around the blaze.
The Muir fire, which quickly became the county’s
largest of the year, started near the Slide Ranch along
the Pacific Coast Highway at about 10:45 a.m., accord-
ing to Marin County fire officials. No one was injured
and no structures burned, but the fire, which charred
grasslands and coastal brush, forced afternoon clo-
sure of the highway between the Panoramic Highway
and Muir Woods Road.
About 150 firefighters from 13 fire agencies, plus
personnel with the National Parks Service and
California State Parks, worked throughout the day to
halt the flames. Containment reached 20% by 4 p.m.,
according to the Marin County Fire Department.
Cal Fire tanker attacks loaded with retardant and
a helicopter making water drops were credited for
preventing the wildfire from spreading. Winds that
reached 20 mph and pushed flames westward toward
the ocean instead of up the slopes of Mount Tamal-
pais also assisted crews in their effort.
Firefighters planned to remain on the fire over-
night and through Friday to ensure it did not expand
further. The cause of the fire is unknown.
—Kevin Fixler and Elissa Chudwin
SANTA ROSA
Firefighters tackle Fountaingrove blaze
Santa Rosa firefighters quickly contained a fire at a
Fountaingrove home Thursday afternoon, while the
Kincade fire blazed on farther north.
Officials received reports of the fire about 1 p.m. at
a duplex on Stonefield Lane, just south of Fountain-
grove Lake. Firefighters contained the blaze within
30 minutes, preventing it from spreading to nearby
properties and the surrounding vegetation.
A couple hours later, firefighters tackled a dump-
ster fire in Fountaingrove, near Shelter Glen Way.
Crews put out the fire, which didn’t spread to any
wildland nearby.
— Chantelle Lee
As economy booms,
cities battle pensions
By ADAM BEAM contrast with California’s
ASSOCIATED PRESS overall economy, now in
its 115th month of growth,
SACRAMENTO — breaking a record set in
While California’s econ- the 1960s. Unemployment
omy is booming, a new is at historic lows and the
analysis shows pension state has so much tax rev-
obligations continue to enue that the Legislature
weigh on the state’s cit- approved a budget earlier
ies as nearly three quar- this year with a $21.5 bil-
ters of them don’t have lion surplus.
enough money to pay the Howle said 337 out of
future health benefits for 471 cities have not saved
retired workers. enough money to pay for
State Auditor Elaine future retiree health bene-
Howle ranked the finan- fits. Nearly half of the cit-
cial condition of 471 Cali- ies are not saving enough
fornia cities on Thursday, money to pay pension
with Compton topping the benefits in five years. She
list for local governments
labeled “fiscally chal-
also said she was alarmed
to see some cities borrow-
lenged.” More than half
of the cities were listed as
ing money to pay for pen-
sion obligations.
moderate to high risk for
financial problems.
The biggest troubled
city was Oakland at No.
The cities’ struggles 13, with 400,000 people.
A6 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019

KINCADE FIRE » FROM MAYACAMAS MOUNTAINS TO ALEXANDER VALLEY

KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A DC-10 drops retardant on the Kincade fire Thursday to strengthen

containment lines in the Mayacamas Mountains.

Santa Clara Cal Fire crewmen Dan Nelson, left, and Luis
Herrera take a break from combating the Kincade fire

Struggle to battle
on Thursday along Coyote Ridge Road in Geyserville.
BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

wind-driven blaze

KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Susi Weaver, the manager for the Hawkeye Ranch in the Mayacamas Mountains near Geyserville, sprays water on the dry brush and belongings as the Kincade fire scatters firebrands
across the property on Thursday. The wildfire erupted Wednesday night inside The Geysers and quickly spread to burn 16,000 acres near Geyserville. It was 5% contained Thursday night.

ALVIN JORNADA / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

The brick door

frame, above,
for a home off
Geysers Road
in Geyserville
remains
standing after
the structure
burned down
Thursday
during the
Kincade fire.

A sign burns,
left, on Geysers
Road on Thurs-
BETH SCHLANKER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT day during the
After helping out evacuees, Tawnie Aguilar, her son, Niko, 2, and her Kincade fire in
daughter, Dahlia, 9, leave the emergency shelter set up at the Healdsburg the Alexander
Community Center on Thursday in Healdsburg. KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT Valley floor.

ONLINE: SEE MORE PHOTOS, VIDEO AND INTERACTIVE MAPS RELATED TO THE KINCADE FIRE AT PRESSDEMOCRAT.COM
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019
“We remain vigilant. Take care of one another, watch out for one another.”
DAVID RABBITT, Sonoma County supervisor
A fire whirl whips across dry brush during the Kincade fire in the Geysers region of Sonoma County early Thursday. A home, below, burns off Geysers Road.
OMINOUS
CONTINUED FROM A1
ing at least a half-dozen
homes along Highway 128,
Red Winery Road and Gey-
sers Road, were destroyed.
No deaths and no miss-
ing people have been re-
ported from the fire, Sono-
ma County Sheriff Mark
Essick said at the news
conference. He could not
provide any details on in-
juries or people treated for
smoke inhalation.
Officials were unable to
say when the blaze would
be fully contained.
The Kincade fire erupt-
ed Wednesday night inside
The Geysers, the world’s
largest geothermal energy
field, fanned by northeast
winds gusting at 76 mph,
the National Weather Ser-
vice said, noting that stiffer
winds are anticipated this
weekend.
Winds are expected to
abate Friday, aiding fire-
fighters, then ramp up
again Saturday night into
Sunday, with gusts up to
80 mph over the highest
North Bay peaks.
Lasting about 12 hours
from about 10 p.m. Satur-
day to about 10 a.m. Sun-
day, the winds will be the
strongest this season over
a broad swath of Northern
California, weather service
meteorologist David King
said.
Scott Strenfel, PG&E’s
chief meteorologist, said at
a news conference Thurs-
day the weekend winds
will be the strongest “by
a large margin this year”
and “possibly one of the
strongest we’ve seen in
years.”
Bill Johnson, the util-
ity’s CEO and president,
said PG&E is preparing for
a preventive power shut-off
on the same scale as the
Oct. 9 blackout “but of a
longer duration.”
PG&E officials docu-
mented their progress
in restoring power to the
179,000 customers in 17
counties, including nearly
28,000 in Sonoma County,
who were cut off Wednes-
day and Thursday. About
56,000 customers remained
without power and “the
numbers are dropping
fast,” officials said.
Two weeks ago, PG&E
pulled the plug on near-
ly 750,000 customers in
Northern and Central Cal-
ifornia, including 66,000 in
Sonoma County, in its first
regionwide outage, which
was faulted as excessive
and poorly executed by
Sonoma County and state
officials, including Gov.
Gavin Newsom.
Firefighters had not de-
termined Thursday what
role, if any, power lines at
The Geysers played in the
ignition of the fire.
Evacuations were or-
dered for Geyserville, in-
cluding the nearby River
Rock Casino, and along nu-
merous roads up to the The
Geysers. All roads east of
Highway 101 in the Geyser-
ville area were closed.
Sheriff Essick said there
had been no looting in the
fire area, which was guard-
ed by about 50 deputies
during the day and about
half that many overnight.
Parkes said the rough
terrain makes it difficult to
find opportunities for con-
taining the fire.
“We’ll boost the day shift
tomorrow,” he said.
Defending structures is
“always our top priority,”
he said, but considering
the upcoming weather and
the rugged landscape, “this
entire fire area is truly of
concern for us. There’s not
one area we can take light-
ly.”
The fire was first report-
ed about 9:25 p.m. Wednes-
day and arriving crews,
ushered through locked
gates by power plant work-
ers, found up to 500 acres
already ablaze, Cal Fire
Battalion Chief Marshall
Turbeville said.
Wind was whipping
burning tree limbs and oth-
er flaming debris through
the air, and flames shot
hundreds of feet toward
the sky as crews quickly
pivoted to getting people
A7
PHOTOS BY KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
highlighted the region’s
trauma from the North
Bay fires of 2017, which
killed 24 county residents
and destroyed more than
5,300 homes.
“We remain vigilant,”
Rabbitt said. “Take care of
one another, watch out for
one another.”
Lew Parde, 78, of Healds-
burg sat in his vehicle
watching over a rental
property he owns on High-
way 128 near Geyserville.
Parde, who worked for the
Forest Service many years
ago, said he was confident
firefighters could bring the
inferno under control.
“If a fire can be stopped,
these guys can stop it. You
can’t stop all fires, believe
you me,” he said, recalling
both the 1964 Hanly fire
that burned to the edge of
Santa Rosa and the 2017
CALIFORNIA BURNING North Bay wildfires.
Wildfires are a natural part of California’s landscape, but the “This side here hasn’t
fire season here and across the West is starting earlier and burned in a long time, and
ending later each year, with climate change considered a key it’s ripe,” Parde said.
driver of the trend, according to Cal Fire, the state firefighting The Sonoma County
agency. Since 2017, wildland blazes have scorched nearly Department of Health Ser-
3.4 million acres, about three times the size of Sonoma County. vices warned that air may
be unhealthy in parts of
Year 2019 2018 2017 the north county, noting
Wildfires* 5,657 310 436 that shifting winds and fire
Acres burned 179,997 1,618,033 1,566,344 conditions make air quali-
ty unpredictable.
Structures Children, pregnant
damaged women, the elderly and
or destroyed 290 23,314 11,642 those with respiratory
*Greater than 10 acres conditions such as asth-
Source: Cal Fire ma, lung disease and heart
disease are most at risk for
harmful impacts.
out of harm’s way. Em- upper 90s. The Kincade fire could
bers thrown by the winds In the vineyards, an ac- become the largest blaze in
landed a half-mile to a mile rid smell hung rich in the the Geysers area in modern
ahead of the fire front. air over the leafy, green and history. The current record
As the wind eased at day- yellow rows of grapevines. is the Pocket fire of Oct. 9,
break Thursday, firefight- Sonoma County Supervi- 2017, which burned 17,357
ers shifted to building fire sor James Gore said many acres and two structures.
breaks around the inferno vineyard owners, even “The Geysers area has
to prevent it from reaching those who had already har- the highest fire behavior
Geyserville, with a popula- vested, turned their sprin- history in Sonoma Coun-
tion of about 900, or farther klers on Wednesday night ty,” Geyserville Fire Capt.
into the Alexander Valley, in hopes of keeping the fire Joe Stewart said.
Turbeville said. at bay.
Air tankers and heli- David Rabbitt, chairman Staff Writers Tyler Silvy,
copters joined the battle, of the Sonoma County Randi Rossmann, Chan-
as ground crews labored Board of Supervisors, at a telle Lee and Will Schmitt
in temperatures in the noontime media briefing contributed to this report.
A8 THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019

ORIGIN
CONTINUED FROM A1
vegetation fire in The Gey-
sers on John Kincade Road
at Burned Mountain Road
near a small power plant,
according to dispatch re-
ports.
A time-lapse video from
a fire detection camera
near Santa Rosa captured
the ignition of the fire. In
the ALERTWildfire video,
a steady light in the hills
near The Geysers abrupt-
ly blinks out at 9:20 p.m.,
followed instantly by a ball
of flames that rises on the
horizon and begins send-
ing a plume of smoke bil-
lowing to the west.
PG&E shut down pow-
er to some 27,000 custom-
ers in Sonoma County on
Wednesday, part of its plan
to prevent its equipment
from sparking wildfires
during hot, dry, windy
conditions that can cause
flames to spread rapidly.
It began restoring pow-
er in Sonoma County on
Thursday after the winds
KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
subsided, but anticipates
dangerous fire conditions Zac Lewis, left, and Luke Bernardini of the Cloverdale Fire Department keep tabs on a home burning as they protect another structure off Geysers Road.
will return this weekend
and could lead to another not the larger transmis- er conditions, particular-
round of blackouts. sion lines that carry power ly wind speeds, did not
PG&E said it cut the across the state. trigger the (public safety
power to local distribution “Those transmission power shut-off) protocol,”
lines in Geyserville and the lines were not de-energized PG&E said in a statement.
surrounding areas — but because forecast weath- “The wind speeds of con-
cern for transmission lines
are higher than those for
distribution.”

TALK TO
WE FORGIVE YOU
The tower in question
was inspected earlier this
year as part of the utility’s

BIRDS
efforts to prevent wildfires,
PG&E said in a statement
Thursday evening.
Overdue book fines The broken equipment
at the tower will become
Magazine
arearticles
suchona every topic you can
bummer. part of investigations by
imagine are at your fingertips, with a library state fire officials and util-
That’s why we got rid of them. ity regulators to determine
card. Log in and search in MasterFile for what role, if any, PG&E
Now, come back
tips on avian to the library!
conversation. equipment played in the
wildfire.
“Cal Fire determines
CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
the sources of ignition of
fire and the way that the Todd Petersen helps put out flames Thursday at his neighbor’s property along Highway 128.
fire spreads. The CPUC is
conducting a staff investi- Christopher Chow, a Pub- to work with our partner aware of “possible power
gation to assess the compli- lic Utilities Commission state agencies that are on lines down in the area.” By
ance of the electric facili- spokesman. “Our hearts the front lines.” 9:53 p.m., firefighters knew
ties with applicable rules go out to those impacted by Initial dispatch reports
sonomalibrary.org and regulations,” said the fire, and we continue warned firefighters to be TURN TO ORIGIN » PAGE A9

AN EVENING WITH THE

Branford Marsalis
Quartet
Photo Credit: Eric Ryan Anderson

SAT, NOV 9 AT 7:30 P.M. W e i l l H a l l

1 8 0 1 E a s t C o t a t i Av e . R o h n e r t P a r k , C A 9 4 9 2 8

@GREENMUSICCENTER
gmc.sonoma.edu @GREENMUSICCTR
7 0 7 . 6 6 4 . 4 2 4 6 @GREENMUSICCENTER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019
Susi Weaver, manager of the Hawkeye Ranch, contemplates her next move as the Kincade
fire bears down on her home early Thursday.
Helicopters drop water to put out hot spots on the Kincade fire Thursday near Pine Flat
Road. The fire began Wednesday night at The Geysers geothermal complex.
ORIGIN
CONTINUED FROM A8
they would not be able to
contain the wind-whipped
fire and needed to start
evacuations, the radio traf-
fic indicated.
Calpine Corp., which op-
erates the largest power fa-
cilities in The Geysers, does
not believe its equipment
caused the Kincade fire. As
a result of windy conditions
in the area, The Geysers
de-energized its local power
line system before the fire
broke out, Calpine spokes-
man Brett Kerr said. The
decision was “consistent
with our fire prevention
protocols,” he said.
“We do not believe our
facilities caused the fire,”
he said. “There are power
lines operated by third par-
ties across The Geysers.”
Firefighters had not de-
termined Thursday wheth-
er the blaze was ignited
by power lines, Cal Fire
Battalion Chief Marshall
Turbeville said. State in-
vestigators typically take
months to pinpoint the
cause of major fires and
announce their findings.
Turbeville said he had
heard that a building could
be involved, but there
wasn’t enough informa-
tion yet to know exactly
how the fire started — and
whether it originated from
the building or the power
lines, or started elsewhere
and overtook them as it
spread.
The Geysers is a geo-
thermal power operation
on 45 square miles in the
remote Mayacamas Moun-
tains above Healdsburg
and Geyserville. It includes
more than a dozen individ-
ual power plants, mostly in
northern Sonoma County,
with a few in Lake County,
that comprise the largest
geothermal energy facility
in the world.
Houston-based Calpine
Corp. produces enough
electricity to power more
than 700,000 homes from
its plants on the property.
High-voltage power lines
carry electricity generat-
A9
PHOTOS BY KENT PORTER / THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
When you believe,
anything is possible.
Forgotten Felines of Sonoma County focuses
on cats that are not “owned” and have little to no
chance of being spayed, neutered, or receiving
medical attention.
ed by its steam turbines
out to the region’s grid,
cutting a path through
mits we will conduct a
thorough assessment.
Some of our operations
the rugged Mayacamas have been temporarily These cats are our county’s most vulnerable; they
Mountains. suspended but we expect
“The Kincade fire production will resume are the most likely to be neglected and they are
flashed through a portion very soon.” the most likely to be forgotten.
of our Geysers geother-
mal facilities late yes- You can reach Staff
terday,” Kerr said. “All Writers Randi Rossmann Cats are altered, given all necessary medical treatments,
employees are safe and at 707-521-5412 or randi.
accounted for. We believe rossmann@pressdemo- and returned to the location from which they were
there is relatively minor
damage to our facilities
crat.com and Will Schmitt
at 707-521-5207 or will.
originally found.
and further threat has schmitt@pressdemocrat.
passed. As safety per- com.
We spay, neuter, provide medical attention, food,
ROCK
care and big doses of love for Sonoma County’s
most at risk cat population.
We believe that every cat deserves to be
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FORGOTTEN FELINES
Of Sonoma County
A12
A PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING NEWSPAPER
The Press Democrat
Santa Rosa, California
Steve Falk, Chief Executive Officer
NEWS
Catherine Barnett, Executive Editor
Ted Appel, Managing Editor
Eric Wittmershaus, Deputy Managing
Editor
EDITORIAL
Sonoma County
gets tested yet
again by wildfire
Y Take back the trail
et again, wind-whipped
flames drove thousands
of Sonoma County resi-
dents from their homes in the
middle of the night.
On Thursday afternoon, with
large sections of the Alexander
Valley, including the whole
town of Geyserville, evacuat-
ed, and thick smoke hanging
over the Mayacamas, questions
about the Kincade fire outnum-
ber answers.
We know the fire started just
before 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at
The Geysers, the world’s largest
geothermal power production
facility and a primary supplier
of electricity for the North Bay.
We don’t yet know what
caused the fire, which quickly
spread across 15 square miles,
or whether it started in one of
the areas where PG&E had shut
off electricity earlier in the day
as a precaution against power
lines igniting a wildfire.
Calpine, which operates
13 power plants at The Geysers,
says its transmission lines
had been de-energized before
the fire. However, a Calpine
spokesman said, other com-
panies have power lines in the
area, and, according to news
accounts, PG&E notified state
officials Thursday that one of
its transmission lines in the
area malfunctioned.
Photos and video show
burned homes, but it’s un-
known how many were dam-
aged or destroyed. No casual-
ties have been reported.
The Kincade fire is the big-
gest test of emergency warning
systems since the county failed
to notify thousands of people
living in the path of the Octo-
ber 2017 firestorm, which de-
stroyed more than 5,300 homes
and killed 24 people in Sonoma
County.
The Sheriff’s Office delivered
the first evacuation order about
an hour after the fire started,
using Amber alert-style warn-
ings aimed at all cellphones in
the affected area — a system
that inexplicably wasn’t utilized
two years ago — as well as opt-
CONTACT US
LET THE PUBLIC SPEAK:
Email letters of no more than 200 words
to letters@pressdemocrat.com. Writer’s
name, address and phone number must
be included. Letters may be edited for
length and clarity.
Democrats can win, but not with Warren
A GEORGE WILL
long the East River,
which is not really a
river (it is a 16-mile-long
tidal estuary), perhaps 20,000
people actually chose to spend a
gorgeous autumn afternoon last
Saturday listening to socialist
Bernie Sanders, who is not real-
ly a socialist — he just wants to
confiscate capitalism’s bounty
to fund his promises of free
stuff. This might seem counter-
intuitive, but it bodes well for
the republic that so many were
eager to hear yet another of
Sanders’ harangues about the
inequity of all existing social
arrangements.
They gathered in the borough
of Queens, the incubator of
presidents (well, of the 45th), in
order to affirm that the Vermont
senator should be the 46th.
If you believe, sensibly, that
removing the 45th is a precondi-
tion for all improvements, you
should want Sanders’ coming
defeat in the Democratic nomi-
nation scramble to be postponed
for a while.
Saturday’s rally was Sand-
ers’ announcement that he,
like the Young Man in Longfel-
low’s poem, is “up and doing,
EDITORIAL
Jim Sweeney, Editorial Director
Lorez Bailey, Editorial Board Community
Member
Ruthie Snyder, Editorial Board
Community Member
in Nixle and SoCo alerts.
With power shut down in
much of the fire zone, elec-
tronic alerts could only reach
people whose cellphones and
computers were charged. So
sheriff’s deputies also went
door-to-door and used new hi-lo
sirens to warn people.
Notification is one half of
the advance-warning equation.
The other is whether people
comply with evacuation orders,
allowing emergency personnel
to concentrate on the fire.
As always, some insisted on
staying put. However, most peo-
ple appeared to be making the
wise choice and leaving. Many
arriving at evacuation centers
confirmed that they received a
cellphone alert or an in-person
warning from a sheriff’s deputy
or a neighbor.
“I’ve never seen our folks so
tight and so prepared,” said
Supervisor James Gore, whose
district includes the Kincade
fire area as well as much of the
territory that burned two years
ago. Then, Gore conceded that
the county was “grossly under-
prepared.”
The county’s initial response
appeared to be sharper this
time, with strike teams on duty
before the fire broke out and a
faster, smoother flow of infor-
mation allowing residents to
safely evacuate. But an objec-
tive assessment of the emergen-
cy warning system, including
fire-detection cameras, the
pre-emptive power outage and
other changes since the 2017
fires will have to wait until the
Kincade fire is extinguished.
We do know this: More tests
are coming. High temperatures
and dry winds are in the fore-
cast again this weekend, prob-
ably accompanied by another
round of precautionary power
outages across the Bay Area.
Please be prepared.
In the meantime, it’s never
too soon to salute the selfless
efforts of the 500-plus firefight-
ers and other first responders
working round the clock to
protect homes and save lives.
STAFF CONTACTS:
Editorial Director Jim Sweeney
Phone: 707-521-5201
Email: jim.sweeney@pressdemocrat.com
with a heart for any fate.” His
message was: Never mind my
heart attack. He is 78, and in his
second run for the nomination
is no longer a novelty, which
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth
Warren, a sprightly 70, is. Her
persona, that of a hectoring
schoolmarm, can be grating, but
is less so than his, which recalls
Dorothy Parker’s description
of Katharine Hepburn: “She
runs the gamut of emotions
from A to B.” Sanders fluctuates
between anger and indignation.
Besides, it is entertaining to
count how many times Warren
plans to spend the same reve-
nues from her wealth tax before
it is declared unconstitutional
(see Article I, Section 9).
The longer Sanders lasts
before Warren cannibalizes his
support, the better it will be for
Joe Biden. And the longer Biden
lasts as the broccoli candidate
— not fun but good for you —
LET THE PUBLIC SPEAK
EDITOR: Unlawful camp-
ing, public defecation and
illegal drug use — these are
the present conditions on the
Joe Rodota Trail west of Stony
Point Road (“Homeless camping
swells along SR path,” Sunday).
Citizens who use this former-
ly scenic path for recreation or
commuting are advised to use
an alternate route; that alter-
nate route is heavily trafficked
Sebastopol Road. How is it
acceptable that illegal, toxic
and threatening activity is
allowed to continue on the trail
while law-abiding citizens are
instructed to find an alternate
route?
The city of Santa Rosa, Sono-
ma County and Sonoma County
Regional Parks need to do the
right thing and take back the
Joe Rodota Trail.
MICHAEL MADSEN
Santa Rosa
Ten more years
EDITOR: PG&E is claiming
it may require 10 years to fix
its system so the public safety
power shutoffs can come to
an end. It is more than incon-
venient — more than just no
TV or internet, no heat or air
conditioning, no cooking in our
house. We can’t easily plan to
keep food cold, let alone frozen.
An easy $200 loss. Standby
power costs thousands. This
is a huge incentive to leave
California. Should one utility
provider destroy quality of life
in California for a decade?
JIM MANEY
Santa Rosa
Grand jury oversight
EDITOR: I have good news for
supporters of the effort to create
a $1.8 million oversight bureau-
cracy for the Sonoma County
Sheriff’s Office: it already exists
and it’s practically free (“Push
for oversight ballot measure,”
Sunday). The civil grand jury
has subpoena power and is
specifically authorized to obtain
law enforcement officer records.
It already is endowed by
the state Constitution with
the powers the ballot initia-
tive supporters are trying to
obtain. Best of all, the civil
grand jury costs the county
the more time there will be for
two grown-ups, Minnesota’s
Amy Klobuchar and Colorado’s
Michael Bennet, both senators,
to thrive as unrecycled moder-
ates. Were Democrats to nomi-
nate either, Trump’s removal,
which Democrats insist is their
sovereign objective, would be
assured. Consider some elector-
al realities:
Charlie Cook of the Cook
Political Report, in collabora-
tion with the Kaiser Family
Foundation, has found: “Swing
voters tend to be younger, more
moderate, and less engaged
in politics” than those who al-
ready firmly support or oppose
Trump, or than the overall
electorate. Warren is not suited
to make them swing away from
Trump.
Matt Fuehrmeyer writes in
the Hill that Democrats could
win back Michigan, Pennsyl-
vania and Wisconsin and still
lose if Trump wins Minnesota,
where Republicans flipped two
House seats in 2018. Clinton
defeated Trump there by just
1.5 percentage points, the weak-
est Democratic showing since
1984. Klobuchar would probably
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2019
only about $100,000 a year.
Unfortunately, civil grand
juries are often reluctant to use
these important powers, be-
cause the 19 citizen volunteers
who serve generally feel they
lack the expertise to evaluate
law enforcement behavior.
However, the civil grand jury
could be an ideal forum for
many of the tasks of the beefed-
up oversight panel proposed by
Jerry Threet.
Instead of creating a cost-
ly new drain on the budget,
it might be more efficient to
increase funding to the civil
grand jury for the purpose of
retaining expertise — when
needed — to explore citizens’
complaints about law enforce-
ment. Why reinvent the wheel?
MATT STONE
Petaluma
Sad state of local roads
EDITOR: I traveled all the
western states last year by car,
and I can attest to the fact that
all those states have far superi-
or roadways than California or
Sonoma County, even with bad
weather like snow.
While I was gone work was
finished on Guerneville Road,
and it is almost as bad as it was
before the repairs. College Ave-
nue with all the crack repairs is
a smoother ride than the newly
finished Guerneville Road.
What a waste of money.
KAREN INDINDOLI
Sebastopol
Fitness for office
EDITOR: Maybe it hasn’t
happened to you: layoffs, down-
sizing, business failure, moved
overseas. So many reasons,
perhaps the hardest of them:
“Sorry, your performance is
unsatisfactory.” Your em-
ployer might have given you a
chance to improve, but once the
termination decision is made,
your only option is to pack your
personal items and leave. There
is no right to cross-examine or
review the evidence or even
to be judged by a jury of your
coworkers.
If you are the president of
the United States, a really bad
performance review is called
“impeachment,” and losing
your job is conviction by the
Senate. While a crime might be
put Minnesota beyond Trump’s
reach.
In Michigan, the closest 2016
state, Trump’s victory margin
was just two-tenths of a point.
Democrat Gretchen Whitmer,
whose un-Warrenesque slogan
was “Fix the damn roads,” was
elected governor in 2018 as a
moderate who had opposed the
“Medicare for All” proposals
of her Democratic primary
opponents. Warren is not ideally
suited to recapturing Michigan.
In purple Colorado, voters
in 2016 resoundingly rejected,
79% to 21%, a ballot initiative
to create a state-run universal
health care system that would
have replaced private health in-
surance. Warren is not as suited
to Colorado as is Bennet, who
has twice won statewide there.
In New Hampshire, where
Clinton won by just three-tenths
of a point, a recent poll found
that whereas 28% want “radical
change” — Warren’s promise
— 57% want the country to get
“back to normal.” No Demo-
cratic presidential candidate
has carried Texas since Jimmy
Carter in 1976 (barely: with just
51%), and Democrats have not
a factor, it isn’t a requirement,
and the justification must
embrace more than a dislike of
policies or decisions. The Con-
stitution is intentionally vague
as to the specifics but clear on
the totality: if the incumbent is
grossly unfit for their job, he or
she may be impeached and, if
convicted, removed from office.
Only 19 federal officials have
been impeached. Fifteen were
judges, of whom eight were
convicted and three resigned
before trial. Perjury was the
most frequent indictment, with
abuse of power a close second,
followed by financial misdeeds
and obstruction of justice.
DONAL B. BOTKIN
Windsor
A public power option
EDITOR: Once again, PG&E
exposed its customers to a
dangerous situation. If this had
been an actual emergency, the
community would have worked
together and weathered it with
our strong Sonoma spirit. Rath-
er, we were driven to frantic gas
lines and unnecessary grocery
store hysteria and economic
and personal disruption.
This latest utility debacle
should have been handled with
a little more thought, planning
and grace. Even the linemen
who came by to inspect our
electric lines prior to reconnec-
tion were perplexed as to why
this was handled the way it was.
Once again customers have
been played for fools. Yes,
emergencies happen and we
need to be prepared, but this
was an inexcusable display of
mismanagement. This lack of
care is what we get when our
only option is a privately owned
monopoly.
How about a publicly owned
utility? It works in other loca-
tions, why not here? Let the
public come up with a positive
alternative. We need to develop
a fair solution that spreads the
responsibility and, yes, burdens
and gains. We need to unite to
resolve this ever-troubling di-
lemma for our county and state.
PG&E doesn’t have to
prove again and again that it
shouldn’t be the only player in
this game. Maybe it’s time to
take our power back.
STEVE HOGLE
Healdsburg
won a statewide race in Texas
for a quarter of a century, since
1994. But although the state
is acquiring a purple tinge —
whites are only about one-third
of Texans under 30 — it is not
apt to be smitten with Warren
in 2020.
Trump won Florida by just
1.2 points. In 2018, Republicans
won the governorship by just
four-tenths of a point and a
U.S. Senate seat by two-tenths.
The state’s 29 electoral votes
are within reach, but Warren
is not the Democrat most likely
to capture them. The same is
true of purple Georgia, Arizona
and North Carolina. In 2017 in
Virginia, Democratic primary
voters rejected the most progres-
sive candidates for governor,
then Democrats won the gover-
norship.
Finally, the most charming,
the most adult campaign prom-
ise this season has been: “If you
elect me president, I promise
you won’t have to think about
me for two weeks at a time.” So
says Michael Bennet.
George Will is a columnist for
the Washington Post.