The Tubbs Fire was a wildfire in Northern California during October 2017. At the time, the Tubbs Fire was the most destructive wildfire in California history, burning parts of Napa, Sonoma, and Lake counties, inflicting its greatest losses in the city of Santa Rosa. Its destructiveness was surpassed only a year later by the Camp Fire of 2018. The Tubbs Fire was one of more than a dozen large fires that broke out in early October 2017, which were simultaneously burning in eight Northern California counties, in what was called the "Northern California firestorm". By the time of its containment on October 31, the fire was estimated to have burned ; at least 22 people were believed to have been killed in Sonoma County by the fire.
The fire started near Tubbs Lane in the rural northern part of Calistoga, in Napa County. It destroyed more than 5,643 structures, half of which were homes in Santa Rosa. Santa Rosa's economic loss from the Tubbs Fire was estimated at $1.2 billion (2017 USD), with five percent of the city's housing stock destroyed. The Tubbs Fire also incurred an additional $100 million in fire suppression costs.
After an investigation lasting over a year, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) determined that the Tubbs Fire was "caused by a private electrical system adjacent to a residential structure" and that there had been no violations of the state's Public Resources Code. However, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) later agreed to settle victims' claims as part of a general $13.5 billion bankruptcy plan involving liabilities from other wildfires, and also issued payments to Sonoma County and the city of Santa Rosa as part of a separate settlement with local governments.
Timeline
October 8
The Tubbs Fire started near Tubbs Lane in Calistoga, around 9:43 p.m. on Sunday, October 8. As it and other North Bay fires began to spread, Sonoma County emergency dispatchers sent fire crews to at least 10 reports of downed power lines and exploding transformers. In northern Santa Rosa, the peak wind gusts at 9:29 p.m. hit 30 mph; an hour later, they were 41 mph.
Pushed by strong winds from the northeast, the front of the fire moved more than twelve miles in its first three hours. The Mark West Springs area, north of Santa Rosa in unincorporated Sonoma County, was directly in the path of the fire. Notably, over a thousand animals at the Safari West Wildlife Preserve remained unharmed, saved by owner Peter Lang, who, aged 76, single-handedly fought back the flames for more than 10 hours, using only garden hoses.
Sonoma County officials could have sent out an emergency alert to every cellphone in the region on Sunday night as the fire grew, but chose not to, saying such a widespread alarm would have hampered emergency efforts. Instead, location based SMS and email alerts were broadcast – the first of these text messages going out at 10:51 pm, using a system called SoCo Alerts to notify people via cellphone; both are limited to those who sign up for these services. Officials also used a reverse 911 system that called landlines in certain areas. At 11:58 pm, firefighters called for an evacuation order encompassing the area between the cities of Calistoga and Santa Rosa.
October 9
By 1 a.m. on Monday, the fire, spreading quickly to the south and west, had reached the Santa Rosa city limits. The advancing flames entered the city from the north, moving into the Fountaingrove area, then moving down ravines between Mark West Springs Road and Fountaingrove Parkway. At about 1:30 am, Sonoma County officials began to evacuate neighborhoods in and around Santa Rosa. In all, tens of thousands of people were evacuated with very little notice.
By about 2 am, the fire, carried by near hurricane-level winds, had spread further to the west, crossing Highway 101. By 4:30 am, the winds had reached their peak speed of more than 60 miles per hour.
The fire devastated the Coffey Park neighborhood, where an estimated 1,300 structures, mostly detached homes, were leveled. Meanwhile, east of the highway, the Fountaingrove Inn, the historic Fountaingrove Round Barn nearby, and a large Hilton hotel were destroyed; 116 of the 160 units at the Journey's End Mobile Home Park burned to the ground, while the remainder of the park was later red-tagged due to heavy damage. Other damage along several streets bordering Highway 101 included a Kmart store and numerous restaurants that burned to the ground.