Napa County brush fire: Old Fire at 570 acres, 20% contained; evacuation orders lifted for residents, CAL FIRE says

NAPA, Calif. (KGO) — Containment for the Old Fire in Napa County has grown to 20% and remains at 570 acres, CAL FIRE said Wednesday afternoon.

Residents were able to return to their homes after evacuation orders were lifted in Napa County overnight on Wednesday as a brush fire continues to burn, CAL FIRE says.

The Old Fire was first reported at 2300 Old Soda Springs Road at 4:01 p.m. on Tuesday.

Officials say crews continued to work through the night to contain and control it.

Firefighters held the Old Fire in Napa to 570 acres overnight, announcing Wednesday morning it had not grown in size.

“Overnight, the winds were favorable, we were able to make significant progress. Luckily this morning acreage hasn’t increased, that’s a good sign,” Cal Fire Spokesperson Erick Hernandez said Wednesday.

He said it wasn’t just the wind that helped, but also the fire’s afternoon start time.

“Obviously at 2, 3 in the morning, like the Atlas Fire back in 2017, we couldn’t deploy any of our air resources.”

This time they could, launching 10 planes and helicopters as part of their aggressive attack.

No structures were damaged in the fire, but Napa resident Todd Walker watched as it burned the hillside across from his home on Soda Springs Road.

“There was no wind. It was burning very slow, you could watch it. The wind was actually blowing away, as fire was burning downhill you could see flames lapping in the other direction,” Walker said.

His home is brand new. It’s a rebuild. His original home burned down in 2017’s Atlas Fire. But he built back smarter and this time, he wasn’t too worried.

“I think we have done a lot to make the area somewhat fire proof. The side of the house is hardy board, the roof is steel, we have lots of defensible space, so I felt pretty confident.”

He even bought an old fire truck. He started to get it ready Tuesday afternoon but didn’t need it. Soda Canyon Road served as a good fire block, the weather cooperated, his home is fine.

Hernandez also pointed to a roadside clearing project as helping in this firefight. A grant from Cal Fire paid for the clearing of vegetation along Soda Springs Road, the road used by emergency vehicles and for residents who were evacuating.

“It’s important to us to have those roads open, fully open, where no embers are creating spot fires (in the vegetation) and at the same time we can evacuate everyone as we did yesterday,” Hernandez said Wednesday.

He also said Cal Fire offers one-on-one consultations for residents wanting advice on home protection and evacuating.

VIDEO: Napa residents remember 2017 blaze as Old Fire continues to burn

Fire officials say the cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Jacob Schwarz lives in the area and believes he saw the fire begin. He tells ABC7 News he was sitting outside as the wind began to pick up.

“We heard a pop and then a spark just fly out of it looks like a telephone box or a power box,” Schwarz said.

Schwarz says a few moments later, he noticed flames spreading from that location.

But this isn’t the first fire to burn in this area. Both firefighters and residents alike say it’s in the same spot as the Atlas Fire back in 2017. That fire, which was a part of the Northern California firestorm, burned tens of thousands of acres and lasted for weeks.

VIDEO: Couple recalls watching home saved from Atlas Fire live on TV

An experience, says nearby resident Tom Bird, that prompted him and his neighbors to take extra steps to help reduce the threat of future wildfires.

VIDEO: Napa Co. brush fire prompts evacuations

“Everyone that I know around here, since the ’17 fire, has been working pretty hard to clean up vegetation, clean up brush, but some events you just can’t predict,” Bird said.

But even as this fire continues to burn just feet from Bird’s house, he says he’s not worried. Instead, placing his trust, in the people fighting it head on.

“We know the hard working men and women at CAL FIRE will keep these fires under control,” he said.

Video is from a previous report

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