“We had ambulances lined up from all over the Bay area,” she said, adding that while the facility was surrounded by smoke, the skies over the hospital itself remained clear enough for helicopters to land and take off with patients who needed to be evacuated by air.
It was the second wildfire-related evacuation of the 151-bed hospital since August, coming on the heels of a massive cluster of lightning-sparked blazes that swept several counties north of the San Francisco Bay region.
Some 600 homes were placed under evacuation orders, with residents of another 1,400 dwellings warned to be ready to flee at a moment’s notice, according to California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) spokesman Tyree Zander. About 5,000 people in all were affected by evacuation notices, he said.
By 1:30 p.m., flames stoked by winds gusting up to 50 miles per hour (80 kph) had scorched some 1,200 acres (485 hectares) of grassy rolling hillsides and oak woodlands, with zero percent containment, Zander said.
The blaze erupted midway through the traditional grape-harvesting period in the Napa Valley, world renowned as one of California’s premiere wine-producing regions. The area’s 475 wineries account for just 4% of the state’s total annual grape harvest but half of the retail value of all California wines sold, according to the Napa Valley Vintners trade group.
Napa and other wine-growing regions have been plagued by a series of wildfires in and around the Bay area over the past several years. Susan Krausz, co-owner of Arkenstone Estate Vineyards in Angwin, said it would take days or weeks to assess the impact of the latest blaze on valley vintners.
Source : Agencies
