Reflections on the Woodside Fire
& Upcoming Events

Adapted from remarks TCPFD Fire Chief Jason Warner made at the August 8, 2026 Living in Community meeting:

First, let me say that this community is amazing.  We have neighbors helping neighbors like those in this room, and like the 20 members of the Timber Cove Fire Department, many of whom dropped everything when the call came in to put themselves in harm’s way for all of us. When you see them, please offer your thanks. They put in a lot of hard work and it made a difference.

Information flow before, during, and after an emergency is always important and always a challenge. You’ve heard us say that TCFPD is working hard to move the needle in the right direction.  In November 2025, we took a proactive step to hire a Community Engagement & Public Information Officer. However, TCFPD is a small district and our talented staff and volunteers wear many hats. When the call came in, our PIO Bethany, along with every available volunteer, responded directly to the fire to pull hose and cut handline.

Wildfires are inherently dynamic and rapidly changing. During this incident, firefighters on the far north end had no way of knowing the fire was rapidly spreading south. Because our district sits in a State Responsibility Area, CAL FIRE holds primary jurisdiction and overall incident command. While incident command has a broader perspective, they are processing new information every second, verifying it, and making split-second decisions based on current and projected fire behavior.

I know many of you received a notice to evacuate before you were even aware a fire had started, and I hear that some were disappointed by the delay in follow-up details. I understand how frustrating that must have been.

I want to reassure you that life safety, yours and ours, is our absolute priority. That’s why evacuations were ordered promptly, and it’s also why detailed updates took time. In a crisis, spreading unverified information can cause more harm than temporary silence when the primary focus must be clearing people out of danger and suppressing the fire.

I also understand there were significant challenges for some of you once the evacuation was ordered.

Picture the fire starting in the middle of Salt Point Park near Highway 1, then spreading down the coast to Stillwater Cove in a matter of hours. Sandwiched right between those two locations is Ocean Cove, the site of another spot fire, packed with visitors camping, shopping, and dining. Highway 1 is the only way out.

Now consider that the only way to stop the fire is for firefighters to have clear access to the area. They need to stage on Highway 1, the only non-combustible surface available. To complicate matters further, stopping this fire required support from across Sonoma, Mendocino, and Napa counties. Many of those responding firefighters were unfamiliar with our geography and the lack of alternative routes. The CHP did their best to direct traffic, but when an influx of vehicles filled with scared, and many non-local, occupants hit a single two-lane road at the same time firefighters are trying to stage, gridlock is inevitable. Even as Fire Chief, I was slowed reaching the southernmost spot fire near Pacific View Drive.

This underscores why early action is essential. When you evacuate at the first notice, it gives responders the time and space to react, adjust traffic management, and actively route you through safely. Please make sure you are signed up for official alerts through SoCoAlert and Nixle, and treat every warning and order with urgency. My sincere thanks to everyone who heeded the call and evacuated promptly.

We know many of you rely on Watch Duty and we encourage that. It’s a fantastic tool for situational awareness, and alongside your own senses (seeing or smelling smoke, for example), it’s often the first indicator you have that a fire has started nearby. At the same time, it’s important to remember where official information comes from. Because CAL FIRE has jurisdiction over wildland fires in our area, they are the official source for confirmed fire updates, containment numbers, and overall incident status.

Our goal as a department is to complement those official County and State updates by providing local information when it adds value without creating a distraction. During the heat of the moment, too much noise can distract us from fighting the fire and it can distract you from preparing for and evacuating when every second counts. Once the initial rush of the emergency passes, we know you need neighborhood-level details, like local road closures and openings for residents. We recognize that follow-up information was delayed, and we are actively working on ways to do a better job delivering those local updates when the dust starts to settle.

Preparing for and responding at our best to an emergency is a responsibility we all share. TCFPD, local agencies, county officials, and state partners are all actively debriefing, analyzing data, and studying lessons learned from this incident. We appreciate your input to those conversations.

To continue the dialogue, TCFPD is hosting a Firehouse Chat on August 23rd at 12:00 PM. CAL FIRE plans to join us to walk through the incident, giving us a chance to discuss fire behavior, local fuel load, and the broader response and aftermath. Looking further ahead, the Central Sonoma Coast Firewise Community will join us at our Open House on Sunday, October 18th for an emergency preparedness and evacuation workshop. Through these community events, we can continue working together to ensure everyone is prepared to act safely in those critical early moments.