Firefighters continued to make progress Wednesday, June 10, on the Putah Fire burning west of Winters in Yolo County, increasing containment to 30% as crews worked to strengthen lines and officials reopened Highway 128. The wildfire, which ignited Monday morning after a prescribed burn escaped control, has scorched 869 acres, according to Cal Fire.
Highway 128, closed near the Napa and Solano county lines due to the fire, reopened in both directions around 9 p.m. Tuesday.
Evacuation advisories for three zones in Yolo County were lifted shortly before 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Despite the improving containment, forecasters warned that dangerous fire weather conditions were expected to intensify again Wednesday night into Thursday across inland portions of the North Bay and nearby areas affected by the fire. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning from 11 p.m.
Wednesday through 9 a.m. Thursday for the North Bay interior mountains and East Bay hills, including eastern Sonoma and Napa counties and parts of Lake County.
Overnight humidity levels could drop as low as 10% to 20%, while wind gusts could reach 35 to 40 mph, with isolated ridge-top gusts exceeding 60 mph—conditions that could fuel rapid fire growth and dangerous fire behavior.
Temperatures were forecast to remain well above normal Thursday and Friday, with highs reaching the low to mid-90s in Santa Rosa, Napa, and Cloverdale before cooling slightly over the weekend. Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
advised that elevated wildfire risk triggered Public Safety Power Shutoffs planned across parts of Northern California on Wednesday and Thursday. PG&E said shutoffs were required in parts of Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Sutter, Tehama, and Yolo counties due to high winds and dry conditions, while portions of Napa, Solano, and Sonoma counties remained under a watch where outages were considered likely.
The fire intensified Tuesday morning after powerful overnight winds pushed flames across containment lines amid dangerous fire weather conditions across inland Northern California. Crews continued battling the blaze in steep, rugged terrain near Highway 128 west of Winters, where firefighters spent days carving containment lines by hand while aircraft dropped water and fire retardant to slow the fire's spread.
Cal Fire reported that about 285 personnel were assigned to the incident Wednesday, including 15 fire engines, 12 hand crews, four bulldozers, and eight water tenders. Firefighters continued working on strengthening containment lines Wednesday.
This is a developing story.