Feliz Fire in Mendocino County grows to 500 acres in 2 hours, forces evacuations 3%
By Chrissa Olson1%
8/1/2026, 5:54:54 PM
Topics: California Wildfires
BS Summary: This article contains 7 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Authority, Optimism Bias, and Pessimism Bias, with Unattributed Quote as the most egregious example at 12.8% saturation with 53 hits. Analysis detected 201 faulty-reasoning hits from 415 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 9.6% and a BS Rank of 3% (25,380 of 25,983 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 97.70% of the article peer group.
A fire off Highway 101 in Mendocino County grew to 500 acres in two hours Saturday afternoon, prompting evacuation orders.
The Feliz Fire, located off the Feliz Creek Road in Hopland, a small farming town, was 0% contained at 5:30 p.m.
“The Feliz Fire now has an evacuation order, continues to have a dangerous rate of spread, and the fire is threatening structures and powerlines,” Cal Fire said in a warning around 4:30 p.m.
Saturday.
The Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office issued evacuation orders for people between Saracina Vineyards West and Hewlett Sturtevant Road, and between Feliz Creek Road East towards Highway 101.
Authorities ordered evacuations for the MEN-2HOP04 zone, which contains multiple vineyards and wineries, including Saracen Vineyards, Dancing Crow Vineyards, Jeriko Estates, Milovina Vineyards and Bells Echo Vineyard.
It also contains business, restaurants, and homes in Hopland.
Evacuation warnings of potential threats to life or property were issued for the MEN-2UKV29 zone, which also contains structures and vineyards.
A temporary evacuation point for people displaced by the fire was set up at Shanel Valley Academy, formerly known as Hopland Elementary School, according to a post from Mendocino County.
There are currently no reports of structural damages or civilian injuries, although structures are threatened by the fire, according to Cal Fire Mendocino unit spokesperson Sherri Wise.
The cause of the fire, which started around 3:30 p.m., is under investigation.
Agencies involved include the Cal Fire Sonoma-Lake-Napa Fire Unit, Hopland Fire Protection District, Ukiah Valley Fire Authority, and other neighboring agencies and CalFire units, Wise said.
She anticipated more agencies would assist by Sunday.
Resources included engines, hand crews to dig fire lines, two helicopters dropping water and four air tankers dropping fire retardant.
Highway 101 remained open, and the California Highway Patrol was not considering closing it as of Saturday evening, said Sgt.
Thomas Herve, supervisor for CHP Ukiah Unit.
The CHP closed Felix Road but allowed people to exit.
Temperatures were in the low 90s in Hopland late Saturday afternoon, with relative humidity around 20% and northwest winds at 20 mph.
The fire showed a hot spot on satellite with a smoke plume extending down Highway 101 into northern Sonoma County.
Winds were expected to become more north-northeast Saturday night, potentially blowing some smoke over San Francisco if the fire stayed active.
This is a developing story.
Check back for updates.
Chronicle newsroom meteorologist Anthony Edwards contributed to this report.
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