Was last week's Point Fire a harbinger of a dark fire season?

I remember when the wind picked up. It was late in the morning last Sunday, Father's Day. The gusts threatened to derail my already terrible golf game.

But it was more than that.

Living in Sonoma County, I don't need wind. I'm not a sailor. And ever since the devastating wildfires of 2017 were turned into a deadly fury by epic, sustained winds, I've had a pretty firm aversion (borderline fear) toward them.

But by Sunday, my fear had not transformed into anything close to fear. In other words, until late afternoon.

I was visiting family and suddenly the sun's rays through the front window turned a strange orange. Sonoma County residents are familiar with this unsettling hue.

Then my sister-in-law looked out the window into the front yard and saw specks of something being whipped around by the wind.

“Is that ash?”

“Finding a balance is ideal”

If you've lived in Sonoma County as we've entered this new (totally unwanted) era of urban wildfires, any hint of wind and heat brings more than just dread.

The wind signals fear. Smoke means danger.

Red flag warnings, when hot temperatures and very low humidity mix with strong winds, give official validation to these feelings. They're not called warnings for nothing.

So forgive us for our visceral reaction when a fire broke out Sunday afternoon near Lake Sonoma. The Point Fire started near Stewart Point-Skaggs Spring Road. More than 320 residents were ordered to evacuate. About 400 other residents were under evacuation warnings.

Around 4 p.m., ash was floating in the air over downtown Santa Rosa.

Our various phone apps – Air Now, Purple Air, Watch Duty – issued warnings about fire lines, air quality and wind speeds.

Facebook groups and other social media platforms were bustling with updates, check-ins and helpful tips.

But soon enough, those same places to find information and support were tinged with tired bickering and finger-pointing over evacuation orders and the cause of various fires.

On top of that, Monday felt like all of California was on fire. Again.

In addition to the Point Fire here, the Aero Fire was burning in Calaveras County. The Post Fire was burning north of Los Angeles. In Colusa County, it was the site fire.

Cal Fire's Sonoma-Lake-Napa unit, which also includes Colusa, Solano and Yolo counties, burned nearly three times as much area this week as in the past three years combined.

It's as if we've been holding our breath for the past three summers, only to exhale with genuine gratitude and relief when fire season is officially declared over without further disaster.

The start of this season – so far – is different. And not in a good way.

On Tuesday afternoon, a relatively small fire broke out in Taylor Mountain Regional Park, in what appears to be the middle of Santa Rosa. It got hosed quickly, but I know people who were downright scared by that one.

A day later, two wildfires – the Ham Fire and the Scotts Fire – broke out in Lake County, one of them so fierce that it forced an evacuation order with the chilling language “ extraordinary threat to life or property.”

These were also brought under control quickly, in part due to the release of crews and aircraft from the Point and Sites fires.

At this point, many of us are downright nervous.

But that’s to be expected when you understand what this community has been through.

“It’s normal,” said Bert Epstein, a psychologist and manager of student health services and mental health programs at Santa Rosa Junior College.

It's not strange that we feel discouraged by the smoke, by the wind, by reports of fires in what might be considered a relatively safe distance, he said.

“Many people in this area have suffered trauma in the past due to fire,” he said. “Now seeing smoke, or anything related to fire, is going to provoke reactions related to trauma from years ago.”

For those of us who have fled fires in recent years, or who have lost loved ones, homes, or possessions, the smell of smoke and reports of fires can cause symptoms of post-stress syndrome. -traumatic, he said.

“People in this situation can be triggered by a similar situation and think about what happened, and that can be very devastating,” he said. “People have flashbacks; people can have nightmares. They can become very anxious. It's really difficult to deal with.

For these people, Epstein said, therapy can be effective.

But for those feeling a lesser degree of anxiety, Epstein offered some coping strategies as we approach another summer, or what we now call, fire season.