I don't think I want to be racing with this in my mirror!

I live in the area. Nearby neighborhoods are burned to the ground. Literally.
It's the scariest thing I've ever seen. Please send thoughts and prayers to the North Bay.

Any word from our fellow 914 brother that owns a winery up North?

Steve's wife has been posting pics most of the day so I'm pretty sure he's OK. I just sent a message asking that he let me know.

Before / after of Coffey Park area in Santa Rosa...

F@#! .... that is just sickening and sad to see

prayers out to everyone in that area. I heard that cell service was down as well, making communication even more difficult.

There are a few active members in the north bay area. I hope their survival rate is high. Terrible destruction within minutes. Where's Krieger?

Wow!

Horrible!

We have a fire burning in Orange County as well. Dry conditions are ripe for wildfires..

Prayer to all involved and fighting the fires too.

In case Krieger doesn't see this thread, at least I can offer:

I texted w/him earlier today (around 10:00 AM) and at that point, he was fine.
We have other friends who live near him and they have not received notice to evacuate.

that's unreal,have no concept of that except the Australian bush fires,never the less very sobering .

That looks unreal. And how do some trees make it through still standing?

Some landmarks are gone. The old Stornetta Dairy buildings have burned. So has the Sears Point sign out there on the highway. My shop is 5 miles away. We shut down at 10:50am, less than an hour after opening this morning. Smoke was too thick to breath!

I know there is member here live in Anaheim Hills. I hope he and his family are okay!

The situation is surreal. Destruction is amazing. Smoke is thick. We're in the middle of 3 fires (Atlas, Nuns, Partrick) but currently no fire is closer than 2 miles. Winds are calm now but forecast to increase tonight. No power or phone. Wifi on as we're on generator. We're packed if we need to evacuate. Porsches safely in the garage. Fingers and toes all crossed.

Actually that part is totally natural, like the Australian bush fires it's good for the vegetation.
Not down playing the terrible loss, or saying this was a natural fire, just stating fact from a nature standpoint. As much as we think we're in control, Mother Nature still has the upper hand.

I hope you stay safe Steve.

The Atlas fire is now moving south towards Vallejo, even though it's 18 miles from my house, the smoke is pretty thick here and everything is covered in ash.

I'm pretty far away - fresno area, But I have 40 acres, room for horses dogs etc, and plenty of room in my home for anyone who needs a place to go.

pick up and trailer too, if you need help moving stuff - but most likely i couldnt get into the area due to closures

559-367-7156 Carl

Always thought of fires as something you could proactively plan for, but this looks similar to living on a flood plain or being in the path of a hurricane - no choice but to get out of the way. Hope everyone gets through all right.

It's my understanding that the night of this 'Urban Firestorm', the police cars drove down those neighborhood streets broadcasting the mandatory evacuation over their squad car loudspeakers...all this was done Minutes before the fire storm hit this neighborhood.

The fire moved forward so fast from the high winds, with embers flying everywhere, that most people barely had time to leave with the clothes on their backs.

I can only hope they all made it out safely, with their pets, before the destruction.

As you can see from that photo, so many irreplaceable personal items were lost. Just about everything they owned....including maybe a project car in the garage

This is exactly right.

With the wind blowing like it was and dry and hot. Nothing can stop a firestorm like this.

Seeing a 40 ft wall of flame in person is frightening. TV can.t capture this....anything combustable will burn.

Thanks Carl for the offer. We can go to relatives in Concord or Ripon. We're on the west side of the Napa Valley with a great view of the east side of the valley from Yountville south. Watching the Atlas fire Sunday night is the scariest thing I've ever seen.

i agree to some extent, particulalry if you live in a high density housing area. but in alot of cases, some stuff can be done proactively, sprinkler system on the perimeter and on the roof, clear vegitation for 100 ft (required by cal fire)
in my case i live in the foothills, so i built an ICF home - pretty close to fire proof

sometimes there is nothing you can do, but in alot of cases, fortune favors those who are prepared!

My daughter was evacuated but so far their neighbor is hood is ok.

Seeing fire up close is very scary. Several years ago our offices in Brooklyn backed up to another building my slum-lord landlord owned. A week before it was going to declared "historical", meaning he couldn't put condo's there, it caught on fire. He had 5 firesin 7 years. My 356 was in the building on the right. I had my pickup backed up to the door, if the fire would have jumped I had planned to load up all our computers in the back of the truck and then hook a tow chain to the 356 and head out. luckily the lumber yard that was between us and the fire didn't light up, but it was a scary few hours. I can't imagine having whole blocks be on fire.

I live about two miles from Coffey Park in Santa Rosa..... my house made it (so far).... but it was a frightening early morning. So sorry that many friends lost their homes.

I know that it is "just stuff"... but watching my friends cry after losing photos and other memories is sickening.

Feeling fortunate.

... here is the view I woke up to at 2am a couple of nights ago. Click to view attachment

I suspect the fire is consuming easy to burn stuff then moving on. Like a pile of heavy wood and paper, the paper burns easily before the wood can light off.

One of my employees is Army National Guard in that area. He was activated last night to support fire effort and added security for road closures to help reduce looting.

Good to hear from you BuddyV. Have been thinking about you, glad to hear you're safe.

Unbelievable. It's hard to imagine a fire moving through residential areas like that, you'd think there aren't enough trees and dry vegetation to keep it going. Frightening to think about it jumping house to house.

My wife's grandparents lost their home in the Oakland Hills fire. I can tell you that you never fully recover.

Prayers to those affected!