Introduction
Also Called: the North Bay Fires, the Wine Country Fires, the Northern California Wildfires (of 2017), and the Northern California Firestorm (of 2017).
The Northern California Firestorm started on the night of Sunday, October 8, 2017. A combination of historic drought, strong offshore winds, and low humidity made an environment ripe for explosive fire growth. Throughout that month, CAL FIRE responded to over 250 new wildfires. (Refer to 'Naming Wildfires and Wildfire Events' to discuss why it is difficult to count how many wildfires were ultimately involved in the Firestorm.) There were almost 250,000 acres burned, 43 fatalities, and at the peak of activity, over 10,000 firefighters battling the fire. Like the Fire Siege of 2003, resources were stretched thin and sometimes calls for extra help could not be answered for several days. Throughout much of the month, the air quality in Northern California drastically decreased due to smoke from the wildfires.
The Safety and Enforcement Division of the California Public Utilities Commission later investigated 17 of the fires and concluded that in 12 of them the utility company PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) violated one or more California General Orders. Many of these violations involved a failure of vegetation maintenance around power lines, allowing fires to spark when a tree fell in the high winds and hit an electric line. In 2020, after filling for bankruptcy, PG&E established a Fire Victim Trust for victims of the 2015 Butte Fire, the 2017 North Bay Fires, and the 2018 Camp Fire.
Major Fires in the Northern California Firestorm of 2017
The Atlas Fire actually started as two different fires ignited on October 8th, 2017 which quickly merged. Both were set by a tree or tree branch falling into power lines. PG&E was found in violation at both sites for failing to abate the hazards of the fallen trees and for failing to maintain vegetation clearance. Within a few hours, the fire prompted the remaining players and spectators from the just-ended Safeway Open tournament to evacuate Silverado Resort and Spa. This was the first of a cascade of evacuations. The Atlas Fire caused 6 fatalities and destroyed over 750 structures, including many wineries and wine-making facilities famously associated with Napa Valley. It was declared contained on October 28.
The Nuns Fire started as a single fire igntied on October 8 by a falling branch that caused some electrical conductors to fail. PG&E was again found in violation. The fire eventually combined with many other fires that were then all collectively referred to as 'the Nuns Fire.' The other fires started their lives as the Oakmont/Pythian, Norrbom, Adobe, Pressley, and Partrick fires. Over 1300 structures were destroyed, over 55,000 acres were burned, and 3 fatalities were linked to the Nuns Fire as it charred the boundary between Napa and Sonoma counties.
The Tubbs Fire was different from other major wildfires in the October 2017 firestorm in that the Utility Commission's investigation found that it did not result from the PG&E power grid, but a private electrical system. However, like the other fires, it ignited on the night of October 8th and was likely related to the high winds. It started along the Napa/Sonoma county barrier north of the Nuns Fire but would ultimately cover much more land in Sonoma County than in Napa County. This is the fire that destroyed cartoonist Brian Fies's home (his graphic memoir, A Fire Story, is listed below). Despite PG&E initially being found not to be responsible for igniting the Tubbs Fire, victims of that fire were eligible to receive funds from the PG&E Fire Victims Trust.
Resources
A Fire Story by Call Number: SD421.32.C2 .F54 2019ISBN: 9781419735851Publication Date: 2019-03-05"Early morning on Monday, October 9, 2017, wildfires burned through Northern California, resulting in 44 fatalities. In addition, 6,200 homes and 8,900 structures and were destroyed. Author Brian Fies's firsthand account of this tragic event is an honest, unflinching depiction of his personal experiences, including losing his house and every possession he and his wife had that didn't fit into the back of their car. In the days that followed, as the fires continued to burn through the area, Brian hastily pulled together A Fire Story and posted it online-it immediately went viral. He is now expanding his original webcomic to include environmental insight and the fire stories of his neighbors and others in his community. A Fire Story is an honest account of the wildfires that left homes destroyed, families broken, and a community determined to rebuild." --publisher
- The Original Fire StoryThis is the original comic created in the days after Fies lost his home, as posted on his blog. Scroll to the bottom for a short comic update posted at the end of that month.
Articles marked IN-PERSON are available at the IFSI Library's physical location, and clicking on the link will take you to the catalog record. Those marked ONLINE can be directly accessed by clicking on the link.
- ONLINE - Fire Rescue 1 - How first responders cope with weight of 2017 Tubbs Fire traumaThis article discusses the trauma that firefighters and other first responders went through during the Tubbs Fire, including attempting rescues and finding injured persons. WARNING: Heavy reading
- ONLINE - Firehouse - FHWORLD18: NorCal Fire Storm Created Numerous ChallengesThis article summarizes and gives excerpts of the presentation given by the incident commander for the Nuns fire, which highlighted the lack of available resources.
- ONLINE - Fire - A Surface Observation Based Climatology of Diablo-Like Winds in California’s Wine Country and Western Sierra NevadaThis scientific article from the open-access journal Fire discusses the wind patterns locally known as 'Diablo Winds' which contributed to the Norther California 2017 Firestorm
- NWS Bay Area- October 2017 North Bay Fires Story MapCreated by the Bay Area department of the National Weather Service, this 'Story Map' provides visuals related to the 4 major fires in Napa and Sonoma Counties. It also explains how members of the National Weather Service Forecast Offices participated in informing the public, the media, fire personnel, and state and local officials throughout the fire.
- Cali. Public Utilities Commission - October Fire Siege & Associated Fires ReportsThese are the reports from California Public Utilities Commission, Safety and Enforcement Division. There is one on the firestorm in general, and individual reports on individual fires. They are for the most part focused on whether there were any public utility violations that led to the fires, especially by the utility PG&E. The summary portions are a good way to find out what exactly caused a fire and where, such as a tree falling on electric wires.
- CAL FIRE - 2017 Fire Season Incident ArchiveIf you sort by date started (just click on the 'Started' header) and go to page 19 of the results, you can see the October 2017 fires, including acres burned and counties affected.
- CAL FIRE - California Statewide Fire Summary Monday, October 30, 2017This fire summary from near the end of the firestorm discusses total fatalities, structures destroyed, personnel committed, and acres burned.