Blazes in Lake County and the Sierra Foothills have displaced thousands, while vintners are coping with the threat to harvest.
Firefighters continue to battle two raging wildfires in Northern
California that have scorched a combined 140,000 acres of land in
multiple counties, destroying more than 1,000 homes and buildings and
dislocating tens of thousands of people. Cool, damp weather and calm
winds in the past 48 hours have helped fire teams in Lake County, just
north of Napa, and Calveras county, in the Sierra Foothills, keep the
infernos largely contained. Continued mild temperatures could further
aid the battle.
Some local vintners are dealing with burned wineries and vineyards,
while many more are juggling logistics as they try to harvest grapes
around evacuation orders.
Lake County
Lake County's
"Valley fire" started Saturday afternoon northeast of the town of Middletown
and rapidly ripped through the southern part of the county, charring a
40-square-mile swath in just six hours. As of Wednesday morning, 2,793
firefighters have been deployed, and they have managed to slow the
blaze—the fire has burned roughly 70,000 acres but is now 30 percent
contained.
As of now, it's the ninth-most damaging fire ever to strike
California in terms of scorched acres and destroyed homes, according to
the state's fire agency. The blaze raced through several small
communities in Lake County, destroying nearly 600 homes and hundreds of
other buildings. Approximately 20,000 people have been evacuated and the
lives of thousands more have been disrupted.
A 72-year-old disabled woman died when she was unable to flee her
house, and four firefighters suffered serious burns. On Wednesday,
authorities were searching for 69-year-old Leonard Neft, a retired
journalist who was reported missing by his family. His burned-out car
was discovered on a road he would have used to evacuate from his home.
The impact on communities will take months to assess, including the
damage to the county's $60-million-dollar wine industry. Lake County is
home to 35 wineries and more than 8,700 acres of vineyards, many of
which have been inaccessible and without power at this critical time of
year. Many Napa and Sonoma wineries use Lake County grapes as well.
"While we don't yet know the extent of vineyard and winery damage,
for some local grapegrowers, the main impact has been the closure of
Highway 29 in the midst of harvest, which has made it challenging for
harvest workers to get to the vineyards," said Debra Sommerfield,
president of the Lake County Winegrape Commission, in a statement.
The staff at
Langtry winery,
in Lake County's Guenoc Valley, was forced to evacuate over the
weekend; they returned Monday to find the damage was less than feared,
with some vineyards hit and some homes on the property destroyed. "The
actual damage to vineyards may not be as bad as we initially
thought—there are areas of green once you get past the most outer
vines," wrote Andrea Smalling, chief marketing officer for Foley Family
Wines, Langtry's parent company.
Michael and Adawn Wood, the owners of
Shed Horn Cellars,
a 3,000-case winery just outside Middletown, were not as lucky. Their
home and winery were both destroyed. Their tasting room survived, and
most of their inventory is held offsite, allowing them to fill pending
orders for now.
Danger to Napa Subsides
The blazes have also been pushing southeast toward Napa County's Pope
Valley and Angwin, where more than two dozen wineries are located,
including
Schrader and
Cade,
as well as toward numerous prized Cabernet vineyards on Howell
Mountain. The fire stretched a little further into Napa County on
Tuesday afternoon, burning a few hundred acres south of Butts Canyon.
Most Pope Valley and Angwin residents had been evacuated over the
weekend, but were allowed back into their homes Monday afternoon. Dave
Guffy, director of winemaking at
The Hess Collection,
and his crew were unable to pick grapes on schedule in their Allomi
Vineyard in Pope Valley but began Monday night. Sander Scheer, director
of viticulture for Hess, said there was no visible smoke in Pope Valley
and very little ash in the vineyard.
Jeff Ames of
Rudius
owns a new house and vineyard on Howell Mountain. On Sunday a Cal Fire
truck came down his street and the crew told him, "'We are not telling
you that you have to go, but if we were you, we would leave,'" he said.
"That was all we needed." Ames and his wife and daughter only had to
spend one night away. "I can't imagine being one of the folks who lost
their homes; we were only gone from ours for one night but that was too
long when you don't know if it will be there to go back to."
For now, Howell Mountain area residents are still on an advisory
evacuation warning, in case the blaze gains momentum. Mandatory
evacuation orders for residents of Clearlake Riviera, Riviera West and
Riviera Heights in Lake County were lifted Tuesday morning.
Calaveras and Amador Counties
Southeast of Sacramento, 4,000 firefighters continue to battle the
so-called Butte fire, which has blazed since Sept. 9 in the northern
part of Calaveras County and the southern edge of Amador County. As of
Wednesday morning, 71,780 acres have been scorched and 233 homes
destroyed. Fire teams reported that it was 45 percent contained.
Authorities found the bodies of two men inside burned-out homes Tuesday
in the town of Mountain Ranch.
The remote mountain area is home to a small community of wineries.
"There isn't anyone here who doesn't know several people who have lost
their homes," said Jeff Stai, owner of Twisted Oak Winery in Murphys.
"The community is already pulling together to help those who have lost."
Thanks to severe drought conditions, the fire grew quickly, catching
residents by surprise. "I've never seen that in 35 years in my career,"
said Kevin Locke, a former Cal Fire employee who founded Locke Vineyards
in Murphys. Locke was planning to pick his 5-acre vineyard in Mountain
Ranch when the blaze swept through the small town, destroying a dozen
homes and charring his vines. He lost his entire crop from the vineyard
but is optimistic most of the 25-year-old Zinfandel vines will survive.
Several wineries own unpicked vineyards in or near the fire perimeter
and are keeping their fingers crossed that there will be usable grapes
when they return. The majority of the region's vineyards are safely out
of range of the fire, but road closures and evacuations have kept
growers from picking their grapes in some remote areas.
Helping Hands
Communities across Northern California are extending a helping hand,
providing shelter and donations to those affected. The Napa County
Fairgrounds in Calistoga has taken in hundreds of people from Lake
County, as well as their horses, cows and dogs.
E. & J. Gallo Winery
announced on Tuesday that it will donate $100,000 to the American Red
Cross to assist with shelter, food and recovery support for those
communities impacted by the Northern California wildfires.
This year's early harvest has offered one silver lining for area
vintners: Many of their vineyards have already been picked. And the fire
spread so rapidly in the first 24 hours that smoke taint might not be a
concern for grapes still hanging on the vines. The long-term impact
remains to be seen.
Warmer weather is forecast for this weekend, and Cal Fire plans to
deploy more aerial firefighting equipment over the Valley fire to help
with containment while the weather is still in their favor. Temperatures
are expected to soar back into the mid-90s soon, and fire season has
another two months to go.
Source: www.winespectator.com
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