Woodward Fire

Unit Information

Point Reyes National Seashore
National Park Service
1 Bear Valley Rd. CA. 94956 Point Reyes Station California 94956
Point Reyes Station, CA 94956

Incident Contact

Public Fire Information
Email: pore_web_master@nps.gov
Phone: 415-464-5100
Hours: *

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The Woodward Fire, located in the Point Reyes National Seashore, started August 18th, 2020, around 2:27pm just south of the Woodward Trail, west of the Bear Valley Visitor Center in Olema, California and about one mile inland from Limantour Beach. The cause of the fire was determined to be lightning.

Updates: The Woodward Fire is being managed by the Great Basin Type 3, Team 4. For the latest information click the News tab or visit our social media channels:
- Facebook: PointReyesNPS
- Twitter: @PointReyesNPS
- YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/yxpjg35c

Evacuation Notices: See Announcements tab for evacuation orders and warnings or visit Marin County Sheriff’s Office at https://bit.ly/2QqxVm4. If residents want to receive emergency notifications, they can register at www.alertmarin.org.

Maps: See Maps tab for daily fire map update. Marin County also puts out an interactive map that shows current fire extent, hot spots, and evacuation status for the Woodward Fire area at https://bit.ly/2Ex41Ko.

Air Quality: Air quality maps are available through the Bay Area Air Quality Management District at https://www.baaqmd.gov/ . For additional air quality information visit: https://fire.airnow.gov/# or https://tools.airfire.org/monitoring/v4 or https://californiasmokeinfo.blogspot.com

Donations: We appreciate your support; however, due to COVID-19 we cannot accept personal donations at this time. To show support, firefighters enjoy seeing “thank you” signs posted throughout the community or consider giving to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation https://wffoundation.org.

Closures: Point Reyes National Seashore is closed to the public until further notice. For additional closure updates, see Closure tab.

Fire terminology: Visit the National Wildfire Coordinating Group Fire Terminology Glossary at https://www.nwcg.gov/glossary/a-z.

Basic Information

Current as of
Incident Type	Wildfire
Cause	Lightning/natural
Date of Origin	Tuesday August 18th, 2020 approx. 03:15 PM
Location	3 Miles SW of Olema, CA
Incident Commander	John Postlewait, Woodward Fire. Type 4 IC.
Incident Description	A Lightning Strike Initiated A Wildfire Within The Point Reyes National Seashore. The Fire Is Being Managed By A Type 4 Incident Management Team Under A Full Suppression Strategy.
Coordinates	38.018 latitude, -122.839 longitude

Current Situation

Total Personnel	12
Size	4,929 Acres
Percent of Perimeter Contained	97%
Estimated Containment Date	Tuesday September 29th, 2020 approx. 12:00 AM
Fuels Involved	Timber (Litter and Understory) Brush (2 feet) Chaparral (6 feet) Fire is burning in heavy coastal shrub, 4 to 8 feet tall and old growth mixed conifer coastal forest. Low fuel moisture values and historic maximum ERC contributed to active fire behavior. Fire is burning in area lacking recent fire history.
Significant Events	Minimal Creeping Smoldering

Outlook

Planned Actions	Continue holding and mop up. Hazard tree removal.
Projected Incident Activity	There is still intermittent heat along the perimeter and isolated heat within the interior of the fire. The fire continues to smolder in heavy, dense fuels. With a warming and drying trend as mentioned in the weather forecast, fire activity has increased slightly over the next few days. Fire is expected to remain within containment lines.
Remarks	The fire still has substantial heat and interior smokes that are visible from the surrounding communities. The fire is not expected to present significant control problems but if the fire reestablishes beyond containment lines, it would negatively affect private and public infrastructure, lead to evacuations of large swaths of residential areas, endangered species habitat, watersheds which provide salmon habitat, high value agricultural operations, communication sites of local and national importance, tourism opportunities, and associated economic impacts and job losses.

Current Weather

Weather Concerns	From the National Weather Service 9/25: Quiet weather to wind out the work week with sunny skies and seasonable temperatures. Noted warming trend starts by Saturday afternoon as offshore winds begin to develop. Offshore winds increase Saturday night into Sunday morning. Winds will ease on Sunday but hot and dry weather across the region. A second burst of offshore winds Sunday night into Monday morning with very warm and dry air in place. Continued unseasonably hot and dry Monday and Tuesday with only gradual cooling by midweek. West coast ridge stays in place through early October with no rain in sight for the Bay Area.