Putah Fire: Crews battle vegetation fire near Winters

LIVE FROM KCRA THREE NEWS. WE BEGIN WITH BREAKING NEWS. THAT BREAKING NEWS IS IN YOLO COUNTY. CREWS ARE BATTLING A 361 ACRE FIRE THAT STARTED AS A PRESCRIBED BURN AND GOT OUT OF CONTROL. IT’S BURNING RIGHT ALONG HIGHWAY 128, JUST WEST OF WINTERS CLOSE TO LAKE BERRYESSA. AND THAT FIRE STARTED ABOUT 1130 THIS MORNING. SO HERE’S WHAT WE KNOW. SOME HOMES IN THE AREA HAVE BEEN WARNED TO EVACUATE. AND YOU’RE GETTING THESE EXCLUSIVE SHOTS RIGHT NOW FROM LIVECOPTER3 OVER THE SCENE. YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE BURN SCAR. YOU CAN SEE PLENTY OF SMOKE COMING UP. THIS IS BURNING UPHILL IN SOME REMOTE TERRAIN THERE. AND WE’RE GOING TO GO DOWN TO THE GROUND ON CECIL HANNIBAL, WHO JOINS US LIVE RIGHT NOW. AND HE’S JUST OFF THE HIGHWAY THERE. SO CECIL, WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU SEEN NOW IN THE PAST HOUR? SO GULSTAN DART OUR VANTAGE POINT RIGHT HERE, BUT WE CAN TELL YOU THE ROAD IS STILL BLOCKED HERE ON HIGHWAY 128. IT IS CLOSED BETWEEN PLEASANT VALLEY ROAD AND CANYON CREEK RESORT. NOW, WE WERE HERE BECAUSE IF YOU GO ANY FURTHER DOWN THIS ROADWAY, YOU LOSE ALL CELL PHONE SIGNAL AND CONNECTION. BUT I WANT TO SHOW YOU THIS AERIAL VIEW RIGHT NOW SO YOU CAN SEE FROM ABOVE THIS FIRE, WHERE THIS IS AN ACTIVE FIREFIGHT. AT THIS POINT, CAL FIRE SAYS THEY HAVE 200 FIREFIGHTERS WITH MORE ON THE WAY TO TRY TO CONTAIN THIS FIRE. AND WE’VE NOW LEARNED THAT, LIKE YOU SAID, THIS STARTED AS A PRESCRIBED FIRE, BUT THE WINDS PICKED UP, CAUSING THE FIRE TO ESCAPE THE CONTROL LINES. RIGHT NOW, CAL FIRE SAYS THEY ARE THROWING EVERY RESOURCE AVAILABLE AT THIS FIRE DROPPING, RETARDANT, DROPPING WATER FROM HELICOPTERS AND FIREFIGHTERS WORKING TO TRY TO BUILD CONTAINMENT LINES. CAL FIRE SAYS NO STRUCTURES ARE THREATENED RIGHT NOW, SO THAT’S GOOD NEWS. BUT THESE FLAMES ARE VERY CLOSE TO POWER. INFRASTRUCTURE. SO THERE IS SOME POWER TRANSMISSION INFRASTRUCTURE THAT IS AT RISK OF THIS FIRE. WE’RE WORKING WITH A LOT OF THE UTILITY COMPANIES, AND THEY’VE DONE SOME MEASURES. THEY HAVE SHUT OFF SOME POWER DISTRIBUTION, WHICH IS A LOT OF THE SMALLER POLES, NOT THE BIG TRANSMISSION LINES AT THIS TIME AS I KNOW IT. SO WE’RE GOING TO TRY TO MITIGATE THE RISK TO THAT INFRASTRUCTURE. AND ONE OF THE MAJOR CHALLENGES HERE, ACCORDING TO CAL FIRE, IS THE WIND. OF COURSE, WE CAN FEEL IT RIGHT NOW. IT IS. THE WIND HAS BEEN VERY INTENSE OUT HERE TODAY. THEY ALSO SAY THE TERRAIN AND HOW STEEP THESE HILLS ARE IS ANOTHER CHALLENGE THEY’RE FACING. BUT THEY SAY THEY’RE GOING TO HAVE CREWS OUT HERE ALL NIGHT AND FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS, WHATEVER THEY NEED TO DO TO CONTAIN THIS FIRE IN YOLO COUNTY. CECIL HANNIBAL, KCRA THREE NEWS. ALL RIGHT, CECIL, THANK YOU FOR THAT PART OF OUR COVERAGE. RIGHT NOW WE WANT TO GO BACK TO THE SKY AND LIVECOPTER3. RIGHT NOW WE’VE SEEN SEVERAL FIREFIGHTING AIRCRAFT ON THIS FIRE THROUGHOUT THE DAY, AND CREWS ON THE GROUND PUTTING SOME CONTAINMENT LINES, PUTTING OUT HOT SPOTS. LET’S GET OVER TO LIVECOPTER3 PILOT DAN OPPENHEIM. AND DAN, YOU AND I HAVE BEEN COVERING THIS FIRE SINCE THE NOON HOUR TODAY. WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU SEEN FROM THE SKY IN THE PAST FIVE HOURS OR SO? GOOD AFTERNOON. THAT IS CORRECT. WE FIRST ARRIVED AT THIS FIRE DURING THE NOON HOUR, AND THE BIG THINGS THAT I’VE NOTICED ARE, WELL, JUST THE SIZE OF THE FIRE. THE RAPID RATE AT WHICH IT SPREAD, THE WIND HAS INCREASED SINCE WE DID ARRIVE INITIALLY, AND THAT HAS CERTAINLY INCREASED THE RATE OF SPREAD. HOWEVER, WHEN WE WERE HERE EARLIER, IT WAS BURNING UPHILL. NOW IT’S BURNING DOWNHILL AND THAT IS A BIG HELP. EVEN WHEN YOU HAVE HEAVIER WINDS, BURNING DOWNHILL IS NOWHERE NEAR AS QUICK AS BURNING UPHILL. SO THAT IS SOMETHING THAT THESE FIREFIGHTERS ARE DEALING WITH. THEY ARE USING THE TERRAIN TO THEIR ADVANTAGE AND TRYING TO USE FIXED WING AIRCRAFT, DROPPING RETARDANT TO SET UP CONTAINMENT LINES. AND THOSE CONTAINMENT LINES ARE ON THE TOPOGRAPHY OF THE HILLS. AS YOU CAN SEE, THEY ARE USING THE TOP OF THE HILLS AND THE RIDGES TO TRY TO FORM CONTAINMENT LINES. YEAH, WE CAN SEE THE CREWS ALSO AT THE TOP OF THE HILL, RIGHT THERE IN YOUR SHOT ALONG THE RETARDANT LINE. ALL RIGHT, DAN OPPENHEIM, THANKS FOR THE LIVE EXCLUSIVE PICTURES OF THIS FIRE. WE ARE STREAMING THIS RIGHT NOW ON KCRA 3’