200-acre Napa wildfire 75 percent contained

Fire officials said that a vegetation fire has burned roughly 200 acres in the Soda Canyon area, near Atlas Peak northeast of Napa.

Cal Fire said Friday the fire was 75 percent contained in the sparsely populated area in the 3200 block of Soda Canyon Road near Silverado Trail.

Winds died down late Friday afternoon, which was good news for fire crews who were still working to mop up persistent hot spots in the rocky terrain.

Cal Fire said they were looking for full containment by 8 a.m. Saturday.

The fire started when a landscaper burned old vines and roots to make way for new plants and 20-mph wind gusts shot embers into the brush at about 12:30 p.m. Thursday, according to fire officials.

"He tried to get it with the shovel, but the winds were too strong, and it just fanned it from there, (so it got away from him)," said Brian Hampton, a firefighter from Cal Fire.

The agricultural burn appears to be illegal, according to fire officials. Witnesses told KTVU no one attended the agricultural burn until it was out which is required and winds were gusting well over the legal limit for approved burns.

Fire officials told KTVU, if prosecuted the unnamed landscape contractor could be liable for costs, damages and possible criminal violations.

Cal Fire said it knows nature will dictate the fire season's start. In the past two months, there have been more than 300 wildland fires – triple the fires for normal winter and the amount of precipitation this winter is the lowest in the last 100 years.