FAIRFIELD (7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017) — The deadly Atlas Fire has charred 42,349 acres as of 7:05 p.m. Wednesday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection reports. It is 3 percent contained.

Part of the larger Southern LNU Complex, which has burned 70,004 acres and is 7 percent contained, the Atlas Fire has spread into Solano County and forced the evacuation of thousands of people. Additional evacuation advisories were issued in the past couple of hours.

The fire has destroyed 178 structures and threatens 5,000 more, Cal Fire reports.

The complex fire is comprised of six individual fires. The fight includes 464 personnel, 16 hand crews, 50 engines, eight air tankers, seven helicopters, six water tenders and four dozers.

A red flag warning remains in effect.

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More evacuation advisories go out to Solano residents

SUISUN VALLEY (6:55 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017) — The Solano County Sheriff’s Office has recommended that rural residents in the north and west county prepare to evacuate should the need arise.

Property west of Pleasants Valley Road from Highway 128 at the Solano-Napa county line, south to Mix Canyon Road was initially included in the advisory message issued early Wednesday night.

The advisory zone was later expanded to include large swath of the county, including the area west of Suisun Valley Road between Interstate 80 and the Solano-Napa county line, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Residents are encouraged to prepare a “Ready-to-Go” bag with all essential papers and medicines and be prepared to leave on short notice. There was no evacuation notice at the time.

The advisory is linked to the advance of the Atlas Fire into Solano County from neighboring Napa County.

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Fairfield High campus converts to shelter for wildfire evacuees

FAIRFIELD (4:33 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017) — People who seek temporary shelter due to the approach of the Atlas Fire are being directed to Fairfield High School, which was designated late Wednesday afternoon as an evacuation center within the city.

Fairfield High School, located at 205 E. Atlantic Ave., replaces the Allan Witt Sports Complex on West Texas Street as the go-to shelter site within the city. The Allan Witt site’s resources are committed to serving previous evacuees, according to the city.

The high school campus – along with the vast majority of public schools across the county – is closed Thursday and Friday as a result of the wildfire and accompanying air pollution.

Fairfield-Suisun School District buses are staging at B. Gale Wilson School, 3301 Cherry Hills Court near Rancho Solano, for those who need a ride to Fairfield High.

Residents of the Eastridge neighborhood in southwest Fairfield are under a voluntary evacuation order. Residents of Rancho Solano have spent the day under an advisory that encourages them to prepare to evacuate on short notice, should the need to do arise.

Solano Community College’s Rockville campus at 4000 Suisun Valley Road in rural Fairfield is also an evacuation center and is capable of handling additional evacuees. The Gurudwara Guru Nanak Sikh Temple at 2948 Rockville Road in rural Fairfield also opened its facilities Wednesday to serve evacuees.

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Solano office of education evacuates staff to secondary site

FAIRFIELD (4:12 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017) — The Solano County Office of Eduction evacuated its main office staff Wednesday afternoon in the Cordelia area of Fairfield to the Golden Hills Education Center across town as a precaution against the spread of the Atlas Fire into rural Green Valley.

The Office of Education’s main office on Business Center Drive is less than 3 miles from the mandatory evacuation area near Green Valley. The Golden Hills Education Center is located on Clay Bank Road. The evacuation happened shortly before 1 p.m.

“For the safety of our employees, classified staff was released at 10 a.m. Management staff remained on site to ensure that all employees were aware of the updated school closures,” Superintendent of Schools Lisette Estrella-Henderson said in a statement. “Our office has also been closely monitoring alerts from public service agencies such as the Fairfield Police Department, Cal Fire, Solano County Sheriff’s Office and through the Nixle notification system.”

Five of the county’s school districts – Vallejo City, Fairfield-Suisun, Travis, Vacaville, Vallejo City and Benicia – have closed schools through Friday. Dixon schools remain open at this time.

Air quality has been a major factor in deciding to close the schools.

This version corrects the original to state that the Office of Education’s main office was shuttered and staff shifted to the Golden Hills Education Center.

City officials work to open evacuation centers in Fairfield

FAIRFIELD (3:27 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017) — City officials are working to establish additional evacuation centers in Fairfield as the Atlas Fire threatens a 217-home neighborhood within the city limits.

Residents of the Eastridge community in southwest Fairfield who were urged Wednesday afternoon to leave their homes were initially directed to the Allan Witt Park Sports Complex on West Texas Street. That facility, however, was not taking in new evacuees.

Police Chief Randy Fenn said the site at Allan Witt was previously committed to evacuees from other fire locations. He said the city was working with officials from the Fairfield-Suisun School District to potentially establish additional evacuation sites, and to staff those sites.

Schools in the Fairfield-Suisun district were closed Wednesday and will remain closed through Friday.

Solano Community College’s Rockville campus at 4000 Suisun Valley Road in rural Fairfield is also an evacuation center.

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OES confirms ‘structures’ lost to fire in Solano County

FAIRFIELD (2:23 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017) — The Solano County Office of Emergency Services confirmed Wednesday that structures have been lost to the Atlas Fire in Solano County, but could not say if any homes were among those destroyed.

An OES spokesman said that the report from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection did not specify the kind of structures.

“There are some structures, but until the fire subsides, we won’t be able to get in and find out (what has burned),” said Deputy Christine Castillo, assigned to Emergency Services during this event.

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Fairfield police issues evacuation advisory for Eastridge

FAIRFIELD (1:18 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017) — Residents of the Eastridge community in the city were urged early Wednesday afternoon to evacuate their homes as the leading edge of the Atlas Fire crept toward the city limits from rural Green Valley.

The Fire Department issued the advisory evacuation order at approximately 12:30 p.m. The evacuation was not mandatory. It came less than three hours after the city urged residents of Eastridge and Rancho Solano to prepare for possibly evacuation.

The Eastridge community includes 217 homes.

An evacuation center is open at the Allan Witt Park Sports Complex at 1741 W. Texas St. Solano Community College’s Rockville campus at 4000 Suisun Valley Road is also an evacuation center.

Eastridge is located on the edge of southwest Fairfield along Green Valley Road. The advisory evacuation order at this time only applies to Eastridge residents.

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Fairfield-Suisun, Travis, Vacaville, Vallejo schools to close Thursday, Friday due to wildfire

FAIRFIELD (11:47 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017) — Officials at the Fairfield-Suisun School District, the Travis School District and the Vacaville School District announced Wednesday that all schools in the three districts will close Thursday and Friday due to the wildfire that’s threatening rural Green Valley and Suisun Valley homes.

School-related activities both before and after school in each districts were also canceled Thursday and Friday. That includes various meetings and athletics in the Travis district, and all classes and student activities in the Fairfield-Suisun district.

Superintendent Pam Conklin on Wednesday cited the most-recent information related to the change in fire conditions and declining air quality as factors in the decision. She said in a statement that the decision came “after much discussion with emergency services, cabinet and staff.”

Staff will remain on all school sites Wednesday until all students have been properly released, Conklin said. Parents who wish to pick up their children before the end of the school day are asked to follow the usual check-out procedures through the front office.

The closures are related to the wind-whipped Atlas Fire, which began Sunday night in Napa County and has since crossed into Solano County. The fire has entered both rural Green Valley and Suisun Valley and is threatening some Fairfield residents.

Police in the city on Wednesday morning warned residents of both the Eastridge and Rancho Solano communities to prepare for possible evacuations.

All schools in the Fairfield-Suisun School District were closed Wednesday due to air quality concerns and the risk posed by the wildfire as cited by Superintendent Kris Corey. She reiterated those concerns Wednesday in announcing the extension of the districtwide closure for two additional days.

Two of the district’s schools – Nelda Mundy Elementary and Suisun Valley K-8 – were closed Tuesday as a direct result of the wildfire. All of the district’s schools were closed Monday in observance of the federal holiday.

Vacaville school officials, in the decision to close schools Thursday and Friday, also cited the effects of the wildfire on families within the district and localized air pollution related to the fire that reached hazardous levels within and near the city.

Vallejo school officials announced Wednesday afternoon that classes at all campuses are canceled Thursday and Friday. Monday is a work day for district staff. Children and teens in Vallejo will return to school Tuesday.

Several Solano County Office of Education sites are also closed through the end of the week: Golden Hills Special Education classes, Fairfield Adult School, the T.C. McDaniel Center, the Division of Unaccompanied Children’s Services, the Irene Larsen Center, and Golden Hills Court and Community Schools.

Schools in Benicia are also closed through Friday.

Classes at Solano Community College were canceled Wednesday as a direct result of the wildfire, but the Rockville campus in rural Fairfield continues to serve as an evacuation center. Classes at the Vacaville and Vallejo centers were also canceled.

This item was updated to include information about additional school closures.

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Travis personnel answer call to help prep for Solano wildfire fight

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE (11:23 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017) — Travis Air Force Base firefighters are pitching in to fight the wildfires devastating Napa and Solano counties, answering a call Tuesday for assistance from local civil authorities, according to the base’s Public Affairs Office.

Three Travis firetrucks and 10 fire personnel from the 60th Civil Engineer Squadron fire and emergency services flight were staged west of Fairfield to aid local fire departments in structural protection efforts.

Travis also transported two 1.2 megawatt generators to the Green Valley Water Treatment Plant along with a team of 19 personnel from the 60th Civil Engineer Squadron, the 60th Logistics Readiness Squadron and the Civil Engineer Material Incident Response Team. The generators will assist in providing power to the plant so residents can continue receiving water.

“We are working with the Solano County Emergency Operations Center and are standing by for further requests,” said Tanya Recasner, deputy public affairs representative for the 60th Air Mobility Wing.

This comes as Travis is still flying missions to support hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico and elsewhere in the Caribbean as well as deploying teams from the 612th Contingency Response Wing.

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Police warn some Fairfield residents to prep for possible evacuation

FAIRFIELD (10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017) — Fairfield police are encouraging residents of Eastridge and Rancho Solano to be ready to leave on short notice should the east edge of the Atlas Fire continue its advance into Solano County.

Police issued an advisory message at 9:43 a.m. Wednesday stating that the Altas Fire has advanced into Green Valley and is now about 3 miles from the Fairfield city limits near the Eastridge and Rancho Solano communities.

The area is also expected to enter a critical wind/weather event beginning at 11 a.m. Wednesday with winds predicted to become volatile and gusty and are part of a red flag warning from the National Weather Service. The warning will remain in effect until 5 p.m. Thursday.

Offshore winds are predicted at 10 to 15 mph with gusts from 30 to 40 mph – less than the offshore winds Sunday and Sunday night that fanned a firestorm across the region but strong enough and dry enough to fan the current wildfires and any new fires that may occur.

Mandatory evacuations of threatened parts of rural Green Valley and Suisun Valley are already in place.

Police said all residents in the Eastridge and Rancho Solano neighborhoods should pack a “Ready-to-Go” bag with all essential papers and medicines and be prepared to leave on short notice. There is no evacuation notice at this time.

Air pollution alerts remain in effect across the region Wednesday due to smoke from the various wildfires.

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Atlas Fire nearly doubles in size overnight

SUISUN VALLEY (8:55 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017) — The Atlas Fire nearly doubled in size overnight, ballooning to more than 40,000 acres across Napa and Solano counties.

Total area burned by the fire since it sparked Sunday night was reported Wednesday morning as 42,349 acres, according to an update from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The fire was 3 percent contained.

The Atlas Fire is grouped with two other regional wildfires into what’s called the Southern LNU Complex. The other fires are the Partrick Fire in Napa County, which had scorched 9,523 acres and was 2 percent contained as of Wednesday morning, and the Nuns Fire in Sonoma County, which had burned 7,626 acres and was also 2 percent contained.

Approximately 125 homes, businesses and other structures have been destroyed by the Atlas Fire, Cal Fire reports. An additional 5,000 homes, businesses and other structures are threatened by the three fires that comprise the Southern LNU Complex, Cal Fire reports.

No additional mandatory evacuation were in place in Solano County as of Wednesday morning, although evacuation orders remained in place for a large swath of rural Green Valley extending down into Suisun Valley.

Significant road closures in rural Fairfield related to the fire and evacuations include Mankas Corner Road at Suisun Valley Road, Mankas Corner Road at Abernathy Road, Rockville Road at Suisun Valley Road and Green Valley Road at Eastridge Drive.

The Atlas Fire crested Twin Sisters on Monday as it continued to move into Solano County. More than 600 homes in rural Green Valley and Suisun Valley had been placed under mandatory evacuation orders as a result of the fire, local fire officials report.

All schools in the Fairfield-Suisun School District were closed Wednesday as a result of the wildfire and accompanying smoke. Solano Community College also canceled classes Wednesday, though the Rockville campus remained open as an evacuation shelter.

Officials in Fairfield and Suisun City report that no structures are threatened within their respective city limits.

This item was updated to correct the spelling of the Partrick Fire in Napa County.

Ian Thompson, Todd R. Hansen and Glen Faison contributed to this report.

Today’s Solano Wildfire Coverage (10/19/2017)

Previous Solano Wildfire Coverage

Daily Updates on Atlas Fire in Solano