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Calistoga holdouts Hopeful

defy order to leave outlook
in fire
battle
Officials report some gains,
but still ‘a dangerous event’
By Casey Tolan, Tatiana Sanchez,
Marisa Kendall and Aaron Davis
Bay Area News Group
Firefighters made “encouraging” progress Fri-
PHOTOS BY ROBERT TONG — MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL day in controlling the deadly wildfires that have
The smoky downtown streets of Calistoga were empty Thursday after an emergency evacuation order was called as a fire raged across Northern California for five days,
raged out of control a few miles north on Mount St. Helena. but the infernos could continue for a week or
more, state officials cautioned.

Some locals feel they can flee if fire nears

The normally bustling
resort town of Calistoga
was eerily quiet and empty
of people this
week, the
mud baths
and mineral
spas, quaint
little shops
and restau-
Paul rants barely
Liberatore
visible un-
der a shroud
of eye-watering, gunmetal-
gray smoke.
It was as if some alien
force had come down and
removed its 5,000 citi-
zens overnight, leaving
their pretty parks, tree-
lined streets and charming
downtown, with its 19th
VOLUNTEER PERFORMERS
Musicians step up to entertain evacuees
Concerts planned at
Civic Center shelter
century stone buildings
and western facades, sud-
denly and strangely aban-
doned.
As the Tubbs Fire contin-
ued to rage out of control a
few miles north on Mount
St. Helena, threatening to
race down the mountain’s
smokestack canyons torch-
ing wineries and vineyards
and everything in its path,
an evacuation order for
Calistoga was issued at 3
a.m. Wednesday, sending
residents fleeing into the
dark and an uncertain fu-
ture.
“We woke up and ev-
eryone was outside, pack-
ing their stuff into their
cars and trucks, slam-
“It’s enlightening,” he
added. “It makes you appre-
ciate how much people step
Dan Bush, a 56-year-old contractor in Calistoga who did not
leave during the emergency evacuation order early, checks
his text message for an update on the fire Thursday.
ming their trunks,” said
18-year-old Mariano Guz-
More than 4,000 firefighters Inside:
fanned out across the main fire lines More
on Thursday night and throughout on North
Friday, a show of force that finally Bay fires
PAGE 3, 4, 6, 8,
started to contain the blazes after 9, 10
days of limited progress.
The number of people killed across Northern
California — already the most ever for a Califor-
nia wildfire — rose to 36 as of Friday evening
with reports of the 18th and 19th fatalities in So-
noma County, a ninth in Mendocino County, and
a third and fourth in Napa County. There have
also been four deaths in Yuba County.
The Tubbs Fire, which has focused on Sonoma
and Napa counties, jumped from 10 to 25 per-
cent containment overnight, according to Cal
Fire. State fire officials predicted that the blaze,
which has burned 34,770 acres, won’t be fully
contained until next Friday.
OUTLOOK » PAGE 6
‘RED FLAG WARNING’
man, who evacuated to a
ORDERS » PAGE 2
Marin air degrades
to ‘unhealthy’ level
as smoke pours in
By Mark Prado
mprado@marinij.com
@MarkPradoIJ on Twitter

By Keri Brenner
kbrenner@marinij.com
@KeriWorks on Twitter
When they heard the call,
Marin’s musicians were
quick to respond.
Dave Perron, executive
director for Corte Madera-
based nonprofit Bread &
Roses Presents, sent an
email Thursday morning to
his volunteer musician list,
seeking donations of per-
formances this weekend at
the county emergency shel-
ter at the Marin Civic Center
in San Rafael. A thundering
“yes” came back within sec-
onds, he said.
“It was like boom, boom,
boom,” Perron said Friday.
“We’ve never had this kind
of response before.
up.”
Over the next few days,
seven Bread & Roses day-
time and evening concerts
are being offered for the
400-plus Sonoma and Napa
county fire evacuees at the
shelter. They are among a
range of entertainment op-
tions Marin agencies and
nonprofits are giving peo-
ple who are trying to keep
themselves — and their
kids — calm while staying
in a strange government
building with little more
than the clothes on their
backs.
Even families who are not
evacuees may need some
help entertaining children
who are forced to stay in-
doors due to poor air quality
from the fires’ smoke or who
Marin’s air improved early Friday morning,
but more smoke poured into the county during
the day as fires continued to burn to the north.
Another “red flag warning” was announced by
officials for Friday into Saturday and the hills of
Mount Tamalpais were noted as areas of threat.
Marin’s air moved from “moderate” to “un-
healthy” as Friday progressed. At 5 p.m., San Ra-
fael was again among the top five worst locations
for air quality in the country as an air quality in-
dex reading of 164 was logged at the EPA website
airnow.gov. Napa showed the worst air quality
ROBERT TONG — MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL with a 393 at that time, considered “hazardous.”
Santa Rosa had a 176. By comparison, Beijing,
Joshua Algerian of the San Rafael City Library reads to
China — notorious for its poor air quality — had
young fire evacuees who are staying at the Marin County
a peak of 163 in the last 24 hours, according to
Civic Center emergency shelter.
the U.S. State Department. A healthy reading is
are at home because school said Matthew Willis, Marin less than 100. The reading reflects a measure of
was canceled — as it was Fri- County public health officer. the particulate matter or soot in the air.
day in Marin. “We recommend children re- The Bay Area Air Quality Management Dis-
“Physical activity in- frain from vigorous physical trict’s health advisory and “Spare the Air” re-
creases breathing and draws activity and limit time out strictions continue to be in place through the
smoky air deeper into lungs, of doors.” weekend.
causing more irritation,” CONCERTS » PAGE 2 AIR » PAGE 2

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INDEX Obituaries.......A12 Opinion........... A13 Religion............B2 Movies..............B3 Sports................C1 Classifieds........D1 Volume 156, issue 206 0 40901 29001 8