IMPORTANT: Kincade Fire update -- North Bay Python is currently still planned
Currently, large portions of Sonoma County, the region North Bay Python calls home, are under mandatory evacuation due to wildfires in the northern part of the county.
We currently plan for the conference to go ahead, but the situation is complex and changing rapidly.
Sonoma County/Santa Rosa airport (STS) has closed, and will remain closed until November 7th at the earliest. The airport is much closer to the fire than Petaluma.
If you have flights scheduled to STS (Sonoma County/Santa Rosa), contact your airline, and make alternate arrangements to fly through another nearby airport. San Francisco (SFO) and Oakland (OAK) are closest. Sacramento (SMF) or San Jose (SJC) are within 2 hours driving distance.
Petaluma is quite some distance from the fire front, and at the moment, the air quality here is somewhat better than in many parts of the Bay Area. However, some parts of the city -- including restaurants and markets near the Mystic Theatre -- have had power shut off over the weekend.
Further power disruptions, with a different footprint, are expected from Tuesday morning, lasting until Thursday. Petaluma is also one of the major evacuation centres in the county, and this is negatively impacting local infrastructure.
At this point, we are not aware of planned power outages for Friday -- the day when we need to set up for the event -- or the weekend of the conference. The flow of the smoke is unpredictable, but we hope it’ll continue to stay clear of us.
If we are unable to provide a working venue, or if air quality in Petaluma degrades and becomes a health hazard, we will cancel the conference. Right now, this seems unlikely.
We plan to review the situation on Wednesday, and to take the time to consult with local authorities, our venue operator, and other vendors. We’ll keep you updated as plans for the weekend become clearer.
If you'd like more information, or ideas on who to donate to, or volunteer with, this local news site has useful resources: https://abc7news.com/sonoma-county-kincade-fire-evacuation-centers-donations-and-other-resources/5651682/
For emergency information, see https://socoemergency.org
Finally, if you’re impacted by the fires or mandatory evacuations and can no longer make it, please let us know, and we’ll refund your ticket. We will consider refunds for other tickets on a case by case basis.
With love,
The North Bay Python Team
northbaypython.org | @northbaypython | facebook.com/northbaypython | youtube.com/northbaypython | #nbpy on Freenode