During Kincade fire, Petaluma firefighters helped hold line

Petaluma firefighters shared their experience fighting Sonoma County’s biggest wildfire this fall.|

As the Kincade fire in northern Sonoma County started to grow in warm windy October weather, so too did the presence of regional firefighters.

Petaluma, among the first agencies to respond, sent an engine with four personnel on Oct. 23, the night the fire ignited northeast of Geyserville. The next day, as the fire quickly spread and with more windy conditions in the forecast, Petaluma sent a second engine with four firefighters.

Coordinating Petaluma’s response was a firefighter uniquely positioned to battle the blaze bearing down on Windsor. Petaluma Battalion Chief Chad Costa had worked for the Windsor Fire Protection District and fought the 2017 North Bay fires in the Mark West Springs area. A resident of Larkfield, his family was evacuated during the Kincade fire.

Oct. 27 was one of the most memorable shifts of Costa’s firefighting career. Overseeing the western edge of the fire from Calistoga to Healdsburg, his responsibility included the fire perimeter.

“This was a non-stop 24-hour shift that included structure defense, perimeter control and anything we could do to limit the spread of fire into our communities. I could write a book on this shift,” he said. “My knowledge and experience helped with managing this area of the fire.”

The fire, which lasted two weeks, ballooned to 77,000 acres, the largest wildfire in Sonoma County history. Amazingly, though, no one was killed and only 120 structures were destroyed. This is a stark contrast to the 2017 Tubbs fire, which killed 22 and torched 5,600 structures.

A slate of aggressive evacuations during the Kincade fire may have saved many lives. Yet with 90,000 homes under threat, including all of Healdsburg and Windsor, it was the firefighters’ efforts that prevented huge losses.

Petaluma Captain Matt Martin was on the front lines starting on the second day of the fire. With strong winds predicted for that night, his task force prepared to dig in and protect the larger population centers of northern Sonoma County.

At around midnight the wind started to pick up, eventually reaching 60 mph with gusts of up to 90 mph. Firefighters couldn’t leave their engine without eye protection because the wind was blowing so hard.

Atop Geyser Peak with his task force, Martin recalled watching the glow of the fire brighten. Radio traffic crackled with calls that fire containment lines were being overrun.

The task force was sent to Alexander Valley and was one of the first on scene at Soda Rock Winery, which was well involved by the time the Petaluma team arrived. Without the resources to extinguish the winery, they moved on to other areas.

“We made our way down Chalk Hill Road doing structure protection and tactical patrol on many homes in the area, eventually meeting up in Windsor with our task force,” Martin said.

In Windsor, the Petaluma crew joined hundreds of firefighters who made a valiant stand to protect the town.

“We arrived on scene and immediately defended three structures that were threatened by fire,” Martin said. “We then did tactical patrol in the area prepping other homes and extinguishing spot fires and numerous burning homes and structures.”

As the incident grew, Petaluma sent a third engine with Assistant Fire Chief Jeff Schach and Battalion Chief Mike Medeiros. Meanwhile, back in Petaluma, the city opened its emergency command center to deal with an influx of evacuees at shelters around the city. Petaluma also staffed three engines and three ambulances back home.

Schach said a total of 16 Petaluma firefighters were deployed at the height of the Kincade fire.

“One of the big takeaways was that the county was in a better position so that when an event like this happened, we were able to throw resources at it,” he said. “We learned a lot in 2017.”

Acting Captain Kevin Burris, who led Petaluma’s initial response, deployed with the first engine to Healdsburg at 9:40 p.m. on Oct. 23, just 16 minutes after the fire started. The team initially went to Geysers Road, where the fire had begun in a geothermal power plant complex.

The team worked long 48-hour shifts over the next week, protecting a dozen homes and a winery, according to Burris, who like many Petaluma firefighters worked on the 2017 fires. He said that the fire was different this year because most people heeded early calls to evacuate.

“These events have challenged me in many ways physical and mentally,” he said. “Maybe we can space them out more than two years next time.”

(Contact Matt Brown at matt.brown@arguscourier.com.)

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.