Update from Mont La Salle

Napa, CA – 10/30/17 – 8:30 AM PST

Mont La Salle Clean-Up Progresses, DLSI Offices Re-Open – As clean-up and recovery operations at Mont La Salle continue, Brother Donald Johanson, Visitor, has announced that De La Salle Institute (DLSI) offices will re-open on Monday, October 30.

The DLSI offices house the District’s Visitor and Auxiliary Visitor, leadership team, finance and I.T. personnel, and administrative assistants.

DLSI personnel will resume their regular office hours of weekdays, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. MORE >

10/17/17 – 3:00 PM PST

From Brother James Joost: Mont La Salle remains undamaged so far. Fire crews are still in the area containing the fire. Containment does not mean that the fire is out, so they continue to extinguish hot spots and live embers that could start another fire.

The Redwood Road roadblock has been moved from Browns Valley (5 miles from Mont La Salle) to the Mt. Veeder Road junction (1 mile from Mont La Salle). Access past that point remains closed. Houses below that point had not been affected by the fire, so there is no fire damage or obvious health hazard to those residents. However, above the road block, which includes our section of Redwood Road and most of Mt. Veder Road, there has been some fire damage and air quality remains poor.

PG&E is hoping to have power restored to the area by as early as this evening. When power is restored, Br. James and Al Sanchez will ask to be allowed to make sure that the power is back on line and working properly at Mont La Salle.

Officials stress that as of yet there is no timeline for lifting or modifying the area’s evacuation orders. When the evacuation is in fact lifted, the road to Mont La Salle will open only to residents and will be regulated by police.

From CalFire: As of this morning, the Atlas Fire to the east of Napa is 77% contained. The Nunns Fire to the west, and closest to Mont La Salle, is 68% contained. This is the fire that crews stopped short of the Mont La Salle cemetery over the weekend.

Area weather forecast: Warm temperatures through Wednesday, with cooler temperatures late in the week and a chance of rain over night Thursday. Winds will gust to the mid-teens as cooler air moves in Thursday-Friday.

NOTE: THIS WILL BE THE LAST E-UPDATE SENT UNTIL THE MONT LA SALLE EVACUATION HAS BEEN LIFTED OR THERE IS SIGNIFICANT BREAKING NEWS. www.delasalle.org and www.facebook.com/SFNODistrict will continue to post any relevant information as it becomes available. General information on the NorCal wildfires is available online through local Bay Area news outlets.

10/16/17 – 10:00 AM PST

From Brother James Joost: Br. James and facilities director Al Sanchez received a report this morning from officials that the fire behind the west side of the Mont La Salle property has been contained and largely extinguished. Crews currently are monitoring for hot spots and flare-ups. According to them, the fire had advanced as far as a line of trees just beyond the Mont La Salle cemetary before the fire fighters gained control.

There was no additional word on the Nuns Fire just to the north and across Mount Veeder Road. At last report, it is about 40% contained and still highly active.

Also, PG&E has indicated that there is planning underway to restore power to the area, possibly as soon as late Tuesday. However, fire officials stress that this does not mean that there is as of yet any timeline for lifting or modifying the area’s evacuation orders. MORE >

10/15/17 – 4:30 PM PST

From Brother James Joost: “Mont La Salle is still okay. This was verified by the county supevisor to our maintenance director, Al Sanchez, this afternoon.”

Fire crews in the Mont La Salle area are concentrating on the Nuns Fire just to the north, which continues to pose a significant threat. The main area of contact is Dry Creek Road in the Mount Veeder area northeast of Mont La Salle. Containment is at about 25%.

Area weather forecasts indicated warm temperatures with calmer winds early in the week, with cooler temperatures and a chance of rain later in the week.

From Justin-Siena High School: Barring unforeseen circumstances, the administration plans to return faculty and staff on Octber 17 and students on October 18. A Justin-Siena Fire Relief Fund has been established for school community members who are need of assistance. Also, On October 15, the school hosted an immensely successful five-hour “Feed the Firsts” community gathering with food and entertainment to thank area first-responders. News on these, as well as other information, can be found at www.facebook.com/JustinSiena/.

10/13/17 – 4:00 PM PST

From Brother James Joost: Br. James and facilities personnel Al, Ulises and Diego were given permission to go up to Mont La Salle briefly again today. The facility is still undamaged and fire crews are using it as a base camp.

The Brothers who were evacuated to other Bay Area Brothers’ communities continue to do well.

Thank you to all of the selfless fire and police workers working the front lines.

From the National Weather Service: Napa will be under a red flag warning this evening through Saturday evening with strong winds and low humidity forecast. Strongest winds are expected along the eastern half of Napa Valley and from the City of Sonoma north along the Highway 12 corridor from late Friday night into Saturday morning.

From Justin-Siena High School: Barring unforeseen circumstances, the administration plans to return faculty and staff on Octber 17 and students on October 18. Resident students and staff have been moved to a hotel in Vacaville. The campus currently has power and WiFi service. A Justin-Siena Fire Relief Fund has been established for school community members who are need of assistance. This and other information can be found at www.facebook.com/JustinSiena/.

Please continue to monitor these e-bulletins, as well as posts on www.delasalle.org and www.facebook.com/SFNODistrict/ for new information as it becomes available. General information on the NorCal wildfires is available online through local Bay Area news outlets.

Thank you very much and please continue to keep our Napa and Sonoma-area Brothers and Partners, as well as all who are being affected by this disaster, in your thoughts and prayers. Live Jesus in our hearts forever.

10/13/17 – 9:30 AM PST

From Brother George Van Grieken: Attached is a screenshot of where the fire line (the red line) was this morning about two hours ago. The map updates every six hours, so the image is already old. For those wanting to follow it themselves, THIS is the website, but you have to zoom in.

As of this morning, it appears that the Napa fires are certainly on the property of Mont La Salle, and probably at the buildings at this particular moment. What and where things will burn is unpredictable and unknown. Yesterday, some of our people did get up to the place to turn on sprinkles wherever they could and remove obvious fire/ember attractors such as outdoor umbrellas and the like.

From my limited knowledge of fires, it seems to me that the primary dangers are the trees on the slope near the Provincialate community carport, all made of wood. This long structure ends up very near the corner of the Provincialate community building and the tile-covered, wood-framed roof. Once the fire reaches into the roof area, there is a lot of fuel to feed it and lead it throughout the complex. The hope that we hold out is that there are some fire crews on the property to try and save the structures or at least to suppress any flare-ups that occur because of falling embers. We really won’t know anything until word comes back down the hill to those from MLS who are gathered at the barriers at the bottom of Redwood Road.  For this most recent update and compilation of past updates >

10/13/17 – 7:30 AM PST

From Brother James Joost: With the permission of local officials and the help of a Lasallian alum who is a fire fighter (as well as some others who he brought with him), Br. James, Al, Ulises, Diego and two Hess workers were escorted by police to Mont La Salle from 2-3:00 PM to better prepare the property for fire if it does come through.  Mainly, this meant hosing down the ground to protect buildings and help to humidify the air through the night.  Though no flames were visible, smoke was rising from the trees to the West and on the upper part of the hill ridge behind the buildings.

The two firemen who helped us wanted to remain anonymous, the graduate of one of our schools saying, “We met at least three other Lasallian alumni firefighters today who helped us expedite the process that allowed us permission to go up there.  It was a team effort, not just ours.”

Thank you to all of the selfless fire and police workers working the front lines.   More >

Update 10/12/17 – 11:50 AM PST

From Brother James Joost: At last check, fire reconnaissance personnel have reported that Mont La Salle is still undamaged. During the morning hours, the closest fire has moved from approximately 4600 to 4500 Redwood Road. Fire fighters are active along Partrick Road west of the property. No civilian access is being allowed into the area.

Brother James, facilities director Al Sanchez, and facilities supervisor Ulises Vasquez have been in regular communication with fire and police officials and are sharing all helpful information that they have about the property. They have given permission for Mont La Salle to be used as an emergency worker staging area and also for its water supply to be used by fire fighters.

The Brothers who were evacuated to other Bay Area Brothers’ communities continue to do well.

From Justin-Siena High School: The school is closed for the remainder of this week. Resident students and staff have been moved to a hotel in Vacaville. The campus currently has power and WiFi service. A GoFundMe account has been established school community members who are need of assistance. This and other information can be found at www.facebook.com/JustinSiena/.  More >

Update 10/10/17 – 4:30 PM PST

In an update sent at 4:30 p.m. PST on October 10, the District of San Francisco New Orleans (SFNO) announced that the Brothers and staff members were voluntarily evacuated from the District’s Provincialate, Mont La Salle, in Napa, which houses most of the District’s offices and two Brothers’ communities. Shortly after they left, these precautionary evacuations became mandatory as concerns grew over the closest of the fires. The Mont La Salle Brothers are staying in other Brothers’ communities in the Bay Area. The District office is closed until further notice.

Justin-Siena High School in Napa is closed for the remainder of this week. Resident students and staff have been moved to a hotel. Justin-Siena shared the map graphic on this page, which, as of October 10, shows the proximity of the fires to Justin-Siena and Mont La Salle.  More > 

Update 10/10/17 – 1:50 PM EST

Brothers and Partners,

Thank you for your patience as we gather information concerning Mont La Salle and the wildfires in California. Communicating has been a challenge. Phone and Internet service in the Napa area is spotty and is not working at all at Mont La Salle. Also, emails being sent to anyone at dlsi.org are not being received.

At this time, what we know is that Mont La Salle and its residents are safe. There appears to be no imminent fire danger to them at this time, but conditions are unpredictable and being monitored very closely. As mentioned, there is no landline, cell, or Internet service on the property. Power is being supplied by the back-up generator.

Sadly, we have received reports that several families from Justin-Siena High School have lost their homes. The international students who live on campus are safe and have not had to evacuate.

For now, we will use e-bulletins, as well as posts on www.delasalle.org and www.facebook.com/SFNODistrict/ to communicate updates as new information on Mont La Salle and Justin-Siena High School becomes available. General information on the wildfires is available online through local Bay Area news outlets.

Thank you very much and please continue to keep all who are being affected by this disaster in your thoughts and prayers. Live Jesus in our hearts forever.

10/09/17 – Recent update from Mont La Salle regarding the Atlas fire that is burning to the northeast of Napa, CA.

The most recent updates can be found on the San Francisco-New Orleans District website >