Pickett Fire (Napa County near Calistoga) Hits 2,100 Acres w/i Hours Of Outbreak: Evacuations Ordered

A fast-growing wildfire that erupted Thursday in Northern California has prompted evacuation orders in parts of Napa County and by early Friday had burned more than 2,100 acres. The Pickett Fire started shortly before 3 p.m. local time near the city of Calistoga. It was zero percent contained late Thursday and moving in a southeast direction, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Bob Todeschini said in a video update.

No structures were damaged and there were no injuries, said Todeschini, the Pickett Fire incident commander. An evacuation shelter has been set up at a church in the city of Napa. At least three helicopters, 53 engines, eight hand crews, eight bulldozers and four water tenders, along with 350 personnel, have been deployed to work to contain the fire overnight, the local California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection unit said.

Hot, dry, and windy conditions are raising fire danger across much of the West, with temperatures well above normal and very low humidity, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. Large swaths of Northern California were put under a heat advisory for Thursday, Friday and Saturday, including parts of Napa County.

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Five blazes erupted in California on Wednesday and Thursday, according to Cal Fire, though the Pickett Fire was the only one to have grown larger than 650 acres.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2025/08/22/pickett-fire-napa-county-calistoga-california/