Wilmar Volunteer Fire Department

Congratulations to 6 of our members for graduating from the SRJC FF1 academy.

Today is a great day to test your smoke alarms when you change the clocks in your home! Change the batteries if you still have a replaceable battery style. If you have a non-replaceable battery smoke alarm, replace it if the life of the device is 10 years or older.

The annual blood drive (and friendly competition between Sonoma Co. fire departments) will take place Monday, January 25th between 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM. This year’s blood drive will take place at the Elks Lodge, located at 2105 S McDowell Blvd, #A Petaluma. Sign up with Vitalant to schedule an appointment and save a life! https://bloodheroes.com/mobile/index.cfm

Our annual toy drive will be held this year on Saturday, December 12th and Sunday, December 13th. This year, we will have a drive-thru collection set up at the firehouse from 8am-5pm each day. Covid precautions and social distancing will be effect for the event.

Wilmar firefighters take place in regular training drills to ensure we remain ready for any emergency. Tonight’s topics are small engines and saws, as well as hose deployment.

Not only are we going into another fire weather watch weekend, but we are expecting a significant wind event on Sunday. This wind event is being compared to the event that occurred during the Kincaid Fire, as well as the Camp Fire.. Please be cautious in any outdoor activities for the weekend that could create a spark and make sure you and your family have an emergency plan in place should something happen.

**Update: Fire is under control. Crews will remain in the area for a while to mop up.** Wilmar firefighters are on scene of a vegetation fire on Spring Hill Rd, just past Chileno Valley. Please avoid the area

*RED FLAG WARNING* The US National Weather Service San Francisco Bay Area/Monterey California has upgraded the fire weather watch and issued a RED FLAG WARNING for the North Bay Area, from 5 AM Sunday (8/23) to 5 PM Monday (8/24) due to dry lightning and gusty erratic outflow winds over existing wildfires. WEATHER EVENT DETAILS:... * WIND...Prevailing winds will be southwest, light in the morning and breezy to locally gusty in the afternoon and evenings. However, erratic gusty outflow winds of 30 to 65 mph may accompany stronger thunderstorms. * THUNDERSTORMS...The strongest thunderstorms are anticipated to develop Sunday evening through Monday morning. Additional isolated to scattered dry thunderstorms are forecast to develop over land from early Sunday to late Monday. Weaker isolated storms are possible off the coast as early as Saturday. Dry thunderstorms may become wet as the event progresses. * IMPACTS...Lightning will likely spark new fires across the region, including remote areas. Wildfires in remote regions may not become apparent until warmer and drier conditions allow them to grow. Erratic gusty outflow winds may result in dangerous and unpredictable fire behavior. Please report potential fires by calling 9-1-1. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A Red Flag Warning means that critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly. A combination of strong winds low relative humidity and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior. Also, the smoke has banked into our community. Please call 911 only if you see active fire, distinct column or have another form of emergency. ---

Press conference will be held at 11am today for updates on the multiple fires in the county.

You may have recieved an evacuation order for a fire on the coast. TO CLARIFY: An evacuation warning has been issued for North of Austin Creek Recreational Area, East of The Cedars, West of end of Mill Creek Rd., South of Stewarts Point-Skaggs Springs Rd. There is no threat to the Wilmar community. Please do not travel to this area of the coast today.

**Red Flag Warning** Along with the excessive heat advisory we are currently under, a red flag warning has been issued beginning at 11pm tonight. Stay cool, stay hydrated, stay safe.

9471 is currently covering the Occidental CalFire station as a wet hire (our personnel and equipment) while CalFire units are committed to fires out of county. While 9471 is covering, service is not affected in our own community.

Unfortunately, we have to cancel our annual BBQ chicken fundraiser that would have taken place this coming weekend. This is our largest fundraiser for the department and helps us purchase items and equipment that are hard to come by on a volunteer budget. If it is within your means and you would like to support our department, we are still doing a cash raffle with the grand prize being $500! Details are in the image below. We have also attached our most recent newsletter. Stay safe. Wear a mask. Be kind to one another. We’ll get through this together. #wilmarcommunity

*Red Flag Warning* A Red Flag Warning will go into effect tonight (Sunday 6/28) at 8 pm and last through 8 pm tomorrow (Monday 6/29) for the upper elevations of Sonoma County (over 1000 ft). Northeast wind 15-25 mph with gusts 30-45 mph with poor overnight humidity recovery will create critical fire weather conditions. -We don’t have any updates if PG&E is taking any action at this time. Please be prepared and have your cell phones charged and able to receive updates. - The strongest winds will occur from sunset tonight to early tomorrow morning.

*Wilmar is responding to a new vegetation fire on Stage Gulch Rd. Smoke visible from Petaluma. Please avoid the area.*

This afternoon Wilmar firefighters provided mutual aid to Lakeville firefighters for a vegetation fire. The fire was held at 125 acres, after the afternoon winds helped spread it quickly.

Now that facial masking is required in Sonoma Co., cleaning them becomes an issue. As a reminder, some masks and face coverings have metal in them for the nose pieces. NEVER microwave your masks to sanitize, always launder by hand. This picture is not from an incident in our county, but serves as a great reminder of what could happen. Be safe!

New order released this afternoon from the county’s health officer regarding face coverings in public. Read more below.