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SONOMA COUNTY, Calif. (KTXL) — Crews battling the massive Kincade Fire took advantage of calm winds on Monday to focus on mopping up hot spots and strengthening containment lines before the weather turned again.
“This is our one chance to kind of get a leg up on things so we’re trying to do the best we can to take advantage of that,” Cal Fire spokesman Rhett Pratt said. “Anything that could be smoldering we want to make sure it’s completely out so that if the wind does pick up like it’s projected again, it doesn’t start back up and cause the fire to cross the street.”
Helicopters made water drops from above as ground crews mopped up.
“This is still the front line of the fire. There’s lots of burning material still here. It’s just not whipped up into a large flame with the wind,” Pratt said.
“It’s just devastating,” neighbor Terry Ott said. “We seen the glow and then all of a sudden the flames were coming over the mountain. The house went up. We were here trying to fight it but the smoke was so thick we couldn’t see, could hardly breathe.”
Ott tried to save his uncle’s house as the fire overtook it Sunday night. It was still smoldering the next day.
“They’ll rebuild. It’s just heartbreaking for them to lose everything. I couldn’t imagine,” Ott said.
The latest numbers from Cal Fire on Monday afternoon showed at least 96 buildings destroyed. But crews hoped the work done Monday will give them a better shot at saving Sonoma County.
“We’re dealing with a very strong force of nature that could have been much, much worse than it was,” Pratt said.