Toll Fire near Calistoga spreads rapidly across 50 acres amid 100-degree heat, forcing evacuations

Two evacuees from the Toll Fire, which broke out Tuesday morning less than 3 miles from downtown Calistoga, had taken shelter in the city's community center and by 1:30 p.m. were listening to Mayor Donald Williams play the piano.

The strains of “Amazing Grace” and “The Sound of Silence” filled the room as in the wooded area north of town, more than 300 firefighters, three helicopters, 20 engines, two bulldozers and seven tankers battled the blaze that grew to 50 acres between 10 a.m. and noon.

The Toll Fire started along the Old Lawley Toll Road, a historic road that once served as a toll road in the area and is dotted with vineyards and about 40 to 50 homes, Napa County Sheriff Oscar Ortiz told the Press Democrat.

Driven south by 15- to 20-mph winds, the fire forced mandatory evacuations just before 11:30 a.m. About 114 people were affected between two areas, just north of Calistoga, that were ordered to evacuate, and two others placed on evacuation alert, said Jason Clay, a spokesman for Cal Fire's Sonoma-Lake-Napa unit.

The community center had been designated as a cooling center before the fire started — a third person who listened to Williams play keyboards was there Tuesday as temperatures soared above 100 degrees and made the day a tinderbox.

No structures were threatened by the fire, which is under investigation, Clay said at 1 p.m.

Evacuation orders were still in effect as of 4 p.m.

First evacuations

Sam and Dee Lovold arrived at the community center around 1:30 p.m. They said they evacuated their home off Highway 29, or Lake County Highway, after seeing the early stages of the fire.

According to Dee Lovold, they had brought duffel bags and planned to stay in Calistoga until the evacuations were lifted.

“We applaud the firefighters' response to the fire,” Sam Lovold said. “They were very quick.” He added that it was the first time the couple had evacuated their home due to a fire.

Williams said he didn't recall the center being used for evacuations before, but the Napa County Fairgrounds had been used during large fires in recent years. He said the community center was likely chosen because of the relatively small number of evacuees this time.

The Toll Fire erupted less than a month after a 60-acre blaze — signaling the start of fire season — broke out northeast of St. Helena, in the scar of the devastating Glass Fire, which in 2020 swept through the Napa Valley and over the Mayacamas Mountains to the outskirts of Santa Rosa.

The 67,484-acre Glass Fire has destroyed 642 homes in Napa and Sonoma counties and damaged or destroyed nearly 30 wineries in the middle of the grape harvest season.

In Sonoma County, the first major wildfire of the season, the Point Fire, broke out on June 16 on the eastern shore of Lake Sonoma. It spread to 1,207 acres before being brought under control, after being The fire destroyed ten buildings, including three homes, and damaged two others. More than 300 residents were ordered to evacuate and more than 400 others were issued evacuation notices.

You can reach staff writer Edward Booth at 707-521-5281 or [email protected]. You can contact Jeremy Hay, editor, at 707-387-2960 or [email protected]. On X (Twitter) @jeremyhay.