This archive report was first published on 26 October 2019.
Published on October 26, 2019, a Red Cross volunteer, Cristian Calvillo, 19, was nearing the 24-hour mark at an evacuation center in Sonoma County, California, where he had also evacuated during the 2017 Wine Country fires.
Mr. Calvillo's family had to leave their home during the 2017 fires, which inspired him to prepare to help others during another disaster. Now, smoke is once again choking the region, where the Kincade Fire has consumed 25,455 acres, with residents and firefighters bracing for winds forecast to reach 80 miles per hour.
‘It’s scary,’ Mr. Calvillo said. ‘It’s not too long ago, what happened, and now they’re back in the same situation moving out of their houses. Some people will lose their houses.’
The Kincade blaze started on Wednesday and has been fueled by the steep topography of the densely forested area. It was 10 percent contained on Saturday morning and has forced 2,000 people to evacuate.
Depending on the direction of offshore winds, more populated areas could be at risk, said Jonathan Cox, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. Strong winds from the north could threaten areas further south, including Healdsburg, a town of 12,000 people across the Russian River.
‘The task is monumental,’ Mr. Cox said. ‘We are throwing as many resources as we can at it, but we also have to plan for the worst.’
Some of the people who evacuated this past week were staying at the Red Cross shelter in Healdsburg, which volunteers said housed 156 people on Wednesday and Thursday nights.
