LNU Lightning Complex: Crews Focus Attack on Walbridge Fire Threatening Healdsburg
HEALDSBURG (KPIX) -- In Sonoma County, Cal Fire says the Walbridge Fire is the top priority in the LNU Lightning Complex Fire because it has the potential to roar right into the city of Healdsburg.
Several homes on Wallace Creek Road went up in flames as the fire ripped through the area. On Friday night, firefighters on the front lines are working tirelessly to put out flames before the wind shifts and directs the blaze toward town.
Flames engulfed the Mill Creek area and left a path of destruction. Those who evacuated are hoping they won't return to devastation.
"That's the tough part. You don't know what's going on," said Blake Rogers, whose parents have a home in the fire zone.
Rogers' parents are wondering if that home is still standing. Crews have been working around the clock trying to knock down the fire building up inside towering redwoods and smoldering in remote areas just west of Healdsburg.
The traditional shift of 24 hours on and 24 hours off doesn't apply to these firefighters.
"On this incident, firefighters are working 72-plus hours straight on the line at 100 degrees plus in some parts of this complex," said Paul Lowenthal, Walbridge Fire public information officer.
Firefighters are desperately trying to get containment as weather forecasts call for winds out of the south this weekend, putting the town of Healdsburg in danger. "The concern is, once the wind shifts, it's going to challenge that side of the fire," Lowenthal said.
To be ready for the potential threat, those who live in Healdsburg are under an evacuation warning.
LIGHTNING WILDFIRES