St. Helena fire prompts evacuation orders

Evacuations were ordered Monday morning in the area of a 20-acre wildfire in rural Napa County.

The fire in the 60 block of Hennessey Ridge Road in St. Helena was reported at 6:40 a.m., authorities said, and the evacuation order was given just before 11 a.m. It’s not known how many homes are in the area, said Will Powers, a Cal Fire spokesman.

The Napa County Sheriff’s Office issued evacuation orders for:

• Sage Canyon Road from Chiles Pope Valley Road to Lower Chiles Road
• Highway 128 at Silverado Trail to Chiles Pope Valley Road, including Pritchard Hill
• Highway 128 at Lower Chiles Valley Road to Turtle Rock

There was zero containment of the fire, Powers said at 11 a.m.

Chiles Pope Valley Road, Sage Canyon Road and Highway 128 were closed in the area, which is east of Lake Hennessey, Powers said. He said it wasn’t known yet whether the fire was caused by a lightning strike.

Residents in the area were instructed to go to the launch ramp to get more information from Cal Fire.