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Firefighters battle a wild grass fire with gusts of wind blowing up to 50 mph, lifting debris and burning over 4,000 hectares of land on a ranch and preserving land near the reserve Natural Grizzly Island on Sunday, October 7, 2018 in Solano County, California.
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Firefighters battle a wild grass fire with gusts of wind blowing up to 50 mph, lifting up debris and burning over 4,000 acres on a ranch and preserving land near the Wildlife Sanctuary. Grizzly Island on Sunday, October.
… more
Photo: Peter DaSilva / Peter DaSilva
Firefighters battle a wild grass fire with gusts of wind blowing up to 50 mph, lifting debris and burning over 4,000 hectares of land on a ranch and preserving land near the reserve Natural Grizzly Island on Sunday, October 7, 2018 in Solano County, California.
Less
Firefighters battle a wild grass fire with gusts of wind blowing up to 50 mph, lifting up debris and burning over 4,000 acres on a ranch and preserving land near the Wildlife Sanctuary. Grizzly Island on Sunday, October.
… more
Photo: Peter DaSilva / Peter DaSilva
A rapid grass fire in Solano County, which has smoked the entire Bay Area, reached 4,700 acres on Monday morning, but was controlled to 70%, officials said.
The Branscombe fire was one of the many grass fires that erupted around the bay area on a windy Sunday while the East and North Bay hills, as well as the mountains of Santa Cruz, were all under a red flag alert conditions due to high winds and low humidity.
The alert, smoke and weather combined fanned the fears of many residents of the Washington Bay area before the first anniversary of the fires in the vineyard.
The red flag alert, issued by the National Weather Service, was due to end Monday at 9 am, but Drew Peterson, Meteorologist for the Weather Service in Monterey, said the warning was likely to extend into the afternoon or in the evening.
Sustained winds of 15 to 45 mph from the northeast continue to blow along the ridges of the bay, with gusts reaching 73 mph near Middletown in Lake County and 69 mph on Mt. Diablo. Gusts of the order of 50 mph were recorded on Mount St. Helena.
"Some areas are still very windy," said Peterson, "and with dry winds coming from the northeast, the situation will only worsen."
Sunday's grass fires, combined with high winds, caused smoke in much of East Bay and in South Bay. The people of Santa Cruz even reported feeling the smoke.
Peterson said the winds should persist at least in the middle of the afternoon on Monday.
The Branscombe fire started in the highlands and on the dry bush at or near Travis Air Force Base, and then quickly moved south along Highway 12 to Grizzly Island, a wildlife preserve. of the state where it is currently burning.
A house and another structure were destroyed by the flames on Sunday, said Sanna Cline, chief dispatcher at the Solano County Sheriff's Office. Grizzly Island is closed because of the fire, she added.
Six fire departments in the region are fighting the fire with the help of Cal Fire helicopters, which pour water on the flames.
Elsewhere in northern California, firefighters are gaining control of the Sun Fire, located east of Red Bluff. The fire consumed 3,848 acres and is contained at 40%.
Michael Cabanatuan is a writer at the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @ctuan
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