Hennessey Fire Forces Evacuation Of 151-Bed St. Helena Hospital
ST. HELENA (KPIX) - The Hennessey Fire in Napa County forced the evacuation Wednesday evening of St. Helena Hospital about 3.5 miles northeast of downtown.
Fifty patients were at the 151-bed hospital when the evacuation order was issued just before 7 p.m., said Linda Williams, an Adventist Health public information officer.
The patients were taken wherever their needs could best be met, she said, some to Queen of the Valley Hospital in Napa. Williams said Napa County Sheriff's deputies were assisting staff with the evacuation and that the process was "calm and orderly."
"We've had plenty of time to prepare for this," she said. "This is not a panicked evacuation."
Williams said no flames were visible from St. Helena Hospital.
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Countywide, an estimated 13,254 people have been told to evacuate their homes, said Napa County spokeswoman Janet Upton.
The Hennessey Fire started early Monday after a lightning strike and had topped 100,000 acres by Wednesday evening, when it included the merged Gamble, Green and Markley fires. It is part of what has been named the LNU Lightning Complex fire, which has collectively burned 124,100 acres in Sonoma, Lake, Napa, Solano and Yolo counties, according to Cal Fire.
Among a raft of evacuation warnings issued across the Bay Area on Wednesday, at 8:13 p.m. the Wine Country town of Healdsburg told its residents they may be ordered to leave "soon."
Healdsburg sits east of the 14,000-acre Walbridge Fire - another part of the LNU Complex. That fire was pushing toward the Russian River community of Guerneville throughout Wednesday.
