Point Fire | |
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Date(s) |
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Location | Sonoma County, California |
Coordinates | 38°42′20″N123°00′44″W / 38.705475°N 123.012253°W |
Statistics | |
Burned area | 1,207 acres (488 ha) |
Impacts | |
Non-fatal injuries | 1 |
Structures destroyed | 4 (10 damaged) |
Ignition | |
Cause | Undetermined |
Map | |
![]() Perimeter of Point Fire (map data) | |
The Point Fire was a wildfire that burned near Healdsburg in Sonoma County, California in the United States. The fire burned 1,207 acres of wildland and wineries after igniting on June 16, 2024 amid red flag conditions that plagued much of the area at the time of the fire. [1] The fire was fully contained eight days later on June 24, 2024.
The Point Fire burned in Sonoma County which has a prolific history of significant wildfire activity. Some most notable incidents near the location of the Point Fire have been the Tubbs and Kincade fires of October 2017 & 2019 respectively. In August 2020, the Walbridge Fire of the LNU Lightning Complex burned close to the footprint of the Point Fire. Additionally, there was the Glass Fire which burned in September of that same year. However, the land which inhabits the immediate footprint of the Point Fire had reportly not burned from a significant wildfire since 1972. [2]
The fire, dubbed the Point Fire after its ignition along Stewarts Point-Scaggs Springs Road, was first reported at 12:30 p.m. PDT on Sunday, June 16 and quickly spread to the rolling hillsides near Marina Road in Healdsburg. [3] The fire grew quickly amid afternoon heat and gusting winds that were estimated to be at least 28 mph in the area. [4]
Within hours, a mandatory evacuation was issued by the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office for all residents northwest of Dry Creek Valley, displacing more than 400 people. As much as 4,000 others were placed under an evacuation warning. [3] By 6:30 pm the fire had ballooned to 550 acres and was torching along Bradford Mountain with only 15% containment. By this time, over 400 firefighting personnel were on scene combatting the fire. [5]
On June 24th, the fire was declared to be 100% contained. [1]
The Wragg Fire was a wildland fire that started just off California State Route 128 near Lake Berryessa in Napa County, California in the United States. The fire started on July 22, 2015. The cause was an idling vehicle's car exhaust. The vehicle came into contact with dry grass and sparked the fire. Mandatory evacuations for 136 homes and 200 residents took place. Six roads were closed temporarily as a result.
The Valley Fire was a wildfire during the 2015 California wildfire season that started on September 12 in Lake County, California. It began shortly after 1:00 pm near Cobb with multiple reports of a small brush fire near the intersection of High Valley and Bottlerock Roads. It quickly spread and by 6:30 PM PDT, it had burned more than 10,000 acres (40 km2). By Sunday, the thirteenth of September, the fire had reached 50,000 acres (202 km2) and had destroyed much of Cobb, Middletown, Whispering Pines, and parts in the south end of Hidden Valley Lake. The fire ultimately spread to 76,067 acres (308 km2), killed four people and destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings, before it was fully contained on October 15, 2015, causing at least $921 million in insured property damage. At the time, the fire was the third-most destructive fire in California history, based on the total structures burned, but the Camp Fire (2018) and the North Complex fire in 2020, exceeded that total.
The Cold Fire was a wildfire that started on August 2, 2016, in the Vaca Mountains, near Lake Berryessa and just west of the city of Winters, in Yolo County, northern California. The fire was contained by 6 PM on August 11 after burning a total of 5,371 acres (21.74 km2), including two buildings, causing an estimated $100,000 in damage.
The Manzanita Fire was a wildfire that burned south of the towns of Beaumont and Banning near Highway 79 in Riverside County, California during June 2017. The fire had consumed some 6,309 acres (2,553 ha) and was burning eastward towards the community of Poppet Flats and Highway 243. Fanned by Red Flag conditions, the Manzanita fire ignited from a traffic collision that grew to over 1,200 acres (490 ha) within several hours of burning. The communities of Poppet Flats, Silent Valley and Highland Springs were threatened for a time but no structural damage occurred during this incident. The fire was fully contained on Friday, June 30.
The Sand Fire was a wildfire that burned in the area of Rumsey northwest of Guinda in Yolo County, California in the United States. The fire started on Saturday, June 8, 2019, at County Road 41 and Highway 16 and burned 2,512 acres (1,017 ha) as well as seven structures. The fire was fully contained as of 7:27 am on June 15, 2019. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. The fire was the first major incident of the season, in what fire officials claimed to be an indicator of the fire season to come.
The 2019 California wildfire season was a series of wildfires that burned across the U.S. state of California as part of the 2019 wildfire season. By the end of the year, according to Cal Fire and the US Forest Service, 7,860 fires were recorded, totaling an estimated of 259,823 acres of burned land. These fires caused 22 injuries, 3 fatalities, and damaged or destroyed 732 structures. The 2019 California fire season was less active than that of the two previous years, which set records for acreage, destructiveness, and deaths.
The Kincade Fire was a wildfire that burned in Sonoma County, California in the United States. The fire started northeast of Geyserville in The Geysers on 9:24 p.m. on October 23, 2019, and subsequently burned 77,758 acres (31,468 ha) until the fire was fully contained on November 6, 2019. The fire threatened over 90,000 structures and caused widespread evacuations throughout Sonoma County, including the communities of Geyserville, Healdsburg, Windsor, and Santa Rosa. The majority of Sonoma County and parts of Lake County were under evacuation warnings and orders. Lake county only had one evacuation order and that was the town of Middletown. The fire was the largest of the 2019 California wildfire season, and also the largest wildfire recorded in Sonoma County at the time before being surpassed by the LNU Lightning Complex fires in 2020.
The Quail Fire was a wildfire that burned during the 2020 California wildfire season southwest of Winters and north of Vacaville in Solano County, California in the United States. Igniting on Saturday, June 6, within the rural confines of Quail Canyon, the fire ballooned to an estimated 1,837 acres (743 ha) and destroyed three structures including one residential property. The fire was fully contained on Wednesday, June 10, 2020, and the cause remains under investigation.
The LNU Lightning Complex fires were a large complex of wildfires that burned during the 2020 California wildfire season across much of the Wine Country area of Northern California – Lake, Napa, Sonoma, Solano, and Yolo Counties, from August 17 to October 2, 2020. The complex was composed of numerous lightning-sparked fires, most of which were small. While they ignited separately from each other, the Hennessey Fire eventually grew to merge with the Gamble, Green, Markley, Spanish, and Morgan fires, scorching 192,000 acres (777 km2) by itself, for a total burn area of 363,220 acres (1,470 km2) in the complex. The fire, which burned in the hills surrounding several large cities, such as Fairfield, Napa, and Vacaville, destroyed 1,491 structures and damaged a further 232. In all, six people were killed and another five injured. The LNU Lightning Complex is the seventh-largest wildfire in the recorded history of California.
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The North Complex Fire was a massive wildfire complex that burned in the Plumas National Forest in Northern California in the counties of Plumas and Butte. 21 fires were started by lightning on August 17, 2020; by September 5, all the individual fires had been put out with the exception of the Claremont and Bear Fires, which merged on that date, and the Sheep Fire, which was then designated a separate incident. On September 8, strong winds caused the Bear/Claremont Fire to explode in size, rapidly spreading to the southwest. On September 8, 2020, the towns of Berry Creek and Feather Falls were immediately evacuated at 3:15 p.m. PDT with no prior warning. By September 9, 2020, the towns of Berry Creek and Feather Falls had been leveled, with few homes left standing. The fire threatened the city of Oroville, before its westward spread was stopped. The fire killed 16 people and injured more than 100. Among the 16 fatalities was a 16-year-old boy. The complex burned an estimated 318,935 acres (129,068 ha), and was 100% contained on December 3. The fire was managed by the U.S. Forest Service in conjunction with Cal Fire, with the primary incident base in Quincy. The North Complex Fire is the eighth-largest in California's history, and was the deadliest fire in the 2020 California wildfire season.
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This article incorporates text from https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2024/6/16/point-fire, a public domain work of the Government of California.