Fire Jumps the Sonoma Coast, Closes Highway 1 and Empties 350 Homes at Salt Point

TIMBER COVE, Calif. — A wildfire that erupted Thursday afternoon in thick coastal forest inside Salt Point State Park has closed a stretch of Highway 1, forced roughly 350 households out of their homes and blanketed a wide swath of the North Bay in smoke that EPA monitors rated as hazardous.

The Woodside Fire started near the Woodside Campground entrance to the park, about 30 miles north of Bodega Bay on the Sonoma Coast. By Thursday evening it had burned roughly 143 acres. Cal Fire reported the blaze at about 140 acres and 30 percent contained on Friday morning, up from 20 percent at sundown the night before.

Crews fought the fire with more than 300 personnel by Thursday night, backed by multiple helicopters and air tankers drawn from across the state. Northwest winds of 10 to 15 miles per hour, gusting to 25, pushed the flames through dense timber on the western side of the highway. Cal Fire spokesman Tyree Zander said thick smoke hampered aerial work through the afternoon, though conditions improved as evening came on.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Office issued mandatory evacuation orders for zone SON-1D1, covering Salt Point State Park, Stillwater Cove Regional Park, the privately run Ocean Cove Campground and the Timber Cove subdivision, along with coastal areas near Jenner. The affected area takes in Timber Cove, Walsh Landing, Seaview and Stump Beach. An evacuation warning was issued for the adjacent SON-1D2 zone. A temporary evacuation point was set up at Laguna High School in Forestville. Both the Woodside and Gerstle Cove campgrounds inside the state park were cleared.

Highway 1 remains closed between Timber Cove Road and Stewarts Point–Skaggs Springs Road, severing the main coastal route through that section of Sonoma County at the height of summer camping season.

The smoke has traveled far beyond the fire line. The Bay Area Air District issued a Spare the Air alert and extended it through Saturday. EPA monitors recorded readings in Russian River communities ranging from 200 to 700 on the air quality index — the upper end is more than four times the threshold at which air is classified as hazardous. Santa Rosa registered in the 100 to 200 range, and Petaluma and Novato sat in the low 100s. The district urged residents to "stay inside with windows and doors closed until smoke levels subside."

The cause of the fire is under investigation. It comes as the state absorbs another punishing summer: Oregon's wildfires have blown past 1.1 million acres this season, and Europe has burned roughly triple its historical average. For the coastal communities north of Jenner, the more immediate question is when Highway 1 reopens — for many of them it is the only way in or out.