It was 4 p.m. and the famed wine country city of Healdsburg, Calif., was virtually empty.
It was four hours before weather forecasters say the Diablo winds might begin in earnest, blowing embers of the Kincade fire perhaps for miles. Concerns that the fire could get down to Healdsburg prompted officials earlier in the morning to evacuate 50,000 people from the city, Windsor and other communities.
When the 4 p.m. bells rang at the local church, there was a little more than a breeze rustling the oaks and evergreens in the town square.
Almost all of Healdsburg's 11,000 residents had heeded the mandatory evacuation order that began at 10 a.m., piling into cars that turned the 101 Freeway south toward San Francisco into a bottleneck of traffic.
City Councilman Shaun McCaffery said he was in a local hardware store when the word came down that everyone had to go.
He expected the news but when dozens of cellphones beeped at the same time, people were alarmed, he said. But with memories of the Tubbs fire just two years before, most were willing to leave.
"There was consternation earlier today. You are going to get some grumblers," said Rhea Borja, spokeswoman for the city of Healdsburg.
But Borgia said the city has been working for some time to prepare people for the possibility of a massive departure. Just last weekend, a practice drill was held to get people ready.
Kevin Burke, chief of the Healdsburg Police Department, said his officers went door to door all day to confirm that most people were gone.
With power scheduled to be cut off within an hour, Burke and his team were patrolling for stragglers. But not everyone was willing to go. McCaffery said he was staying.
He had been in the hardware store buying sprinklers for his roof, and a 400-pound generator sat in the back of his truck. His family was safe in a hotel in Sebastapol, where the kids were likely in the pool, he said. But he was staying behind in the hopes of protecting his home and their three cats, Butter, Percy, and Inka, in case the worst were to happen and the winds brought embers to the wine country city.
