The Woodside Fire broke out Thursday afternoon on the Sonoma Coast north of Timber Cove, and by 4 p.m. it had grown to an estimated 50 acres. The fire also closed a stretch of Highway 1 and pushed the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office to issue evacuation order SON-1D1 and evacuation warning SON-1D2.
Salt Point State Park evacuations
Woodside Campground and Gerstle Cove Campground inside Salt Point State Park were evacuated as the fire burned through coastal prairie and forest on the west side of Highway 1 near the entrance to Woodside Campground. The order for SON-1D1 covered Walsh Landing, Seaview and Stump Beach just before 4 p.m., while the warning for SON-1D2 covered Table Mountain, Toners Place and Goat Rock farther inland.
Several airtankers and helicopters joined ground crews at the scene. Crews were trying to keep the fire from crossing Highway 1 into the heavily forested hills to the east, where the terrain gave the fire more room to spread.
Timber Cove concerns
The fire had an active front north of Ocean Cove and was moving south through heavy timber, with winds from the north driving it. Authorities were tentatively considering evacuation orders or warnings for residents in the Timber Cove area to the south.
Smoke was visible from Ocean Cove Lodge, but no official evacuation advisories had reached that area. For people in SON-1D1, SON-1D2, and the evacuated campgrounds, the practical change was immediate: leave, move out of the warning area, and stay clear of the closed stretch of Highway 1 until access changes.
The remaining question is how far the fire pushes south before crews can hold Highway 1 and the surrounding hills, because that determines whether the current evacuation zones stay limited to the campground and nearby coastal areas or expand toward Timber Cove.
