Local wildfires affect schools, community

Wildfires that broke out on Sunday, October 8 in the Napa and Sonoma areas have destroyed hotels, wineries, and many homes. In Fairfield, the Atlas Fire has also resulted in forced evacuations as it spread across Solano County due to high winds.

In the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District (FSUSD), the Atlas Fire has resulted in the cancellation of Suisun Valley K-8 School and Nelda Mundy Elementary School. “The fire is pretty scary, I woke up and all that I could see in the air was smoke on the way to school,” said Brianna Vandenhende.

In a message from Kris Corey, Superintendent of the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District, the statement from the district said, “This decision has been made in cooperation with Solano County Office of Emergency Services. At this time, these are the only two schools that will be closed today. As long as a school is a physically safe place to be, we will keep it open for students who might otherwise be home alone unsupervised. We believe it’s important to provide this option to families. Parents may choose to keep their children home. Students who are absent from school during this time will not be penalized.”

As the situation develops, FSUSD will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as they become available via All Call, KUIC, Facebook, Twitter, and the district website.

“I live near the area, and it’s devastating for anyone who had to leave their homes, or lost their homes. And it’s a real disruptive for the community, with the smoke. I hope that we can do something to help,” said Mr. Cesar Correa.

Monday night, October 9, mandatory Atlas Fire evacuations were issued for Twin Sisters Road and Joyce Lane west of Fairfield by the Fairfield Police Department and an Atlas Fire evacuation advisory remained in effect for residents in the Green Valley area west of Fairfield.

Due to the wildfire, the planned IB Environmental System Studies field trip to the Suisun Marsh was cancelled. “I’m surprised Armijo is still open,” said Navraj Grewal.

Many Armijo students had to evacuate their homes due to the Atlas Fire. Jeremy Teruel said, “I had to leave my home last night. Some of my friends left even earlier.”

According the Daily Republic, evacuation areas on Tuesday, October 10, included:

All streets off of Green Valley Road north of Rockville Road (the four-way stop)
All streets in Green Valley Estates west of Green Valley Road (Paseo Arboles / Via Vaquero)
All streets on the west side of Green Valley Road from Mason Rd to Valley End

The evacuation does not include any area within the Fairfield city limits, Officer Osgood said.

UPDATE: There will be no school on Wednesday, October 11, 2017 across the Fairfield Suisun Unified School District due to the wildfires.