CALISTOGA, CA – OCTOBER 01: The Glass Fire burns near Diamond Mountain about 3.5 miles from downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA — California turns the calendar Thursday into what’s typically its most dangerous month of fire season, with nearly 4 million acres burned so far in an epic year that has already doubled previous annual records.
Firefighters made some progress against one of the latest destructive blazes, the Glass Fire in Napa and Sonoma counties’ world-famous wine region. But weather forecasters issued red flag warnings from Thursday afternoon until Friday night, predicting gusty winds and warmer temperatures that could worsen that fire and increase the risk of new blazes in the Bay Area.
CALISTOGA, CA - OCTOBER 01: The Glass Fire burns near Diamond Mountain Road as an American flag is seen on a vintage truck at Joseph Cellars about 3.5 miles from downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - OCTOBER 01: The Glass Fire burns near Diamond Mountain as a Cal Fire truck passes by about 3.5 miles from downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - OCTOBER 01: The Glass Fire burns near Diamond Mountain as a tree flares up about 3.5 miles from downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: A DC-10 does a fire retardant air drop as the Glass Fire burns about a mile out of downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: A smoky red almost-full moon rises while the Glass Fire continues to burn by Diamond Mountain in Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: Tiki torches are seen in the foreground as the full moon rises while the Glass Fire continues to burn by Diamond Mountain in Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - OCTOBER 01: The Glass Fire burns near Diamond Mountain about 3.5 miles from downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: A smoky sunset is seen as the Glass Fire continues to burn about a mile out of downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: A smoky sunset is seen as the Glass Fire burns about a mile out of downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: A DC-10 lines up to do an fire retardant air drop near the Jericho Canyon Vineyard and Winery as the Glass Fire burns about a mile out of downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: Redwood trees smolder off of Diamond Mountain Road as the Glass Fire burns in Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: A DC-10 does a fire retardant air drop as the Glass Fire burns about a mile out of downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: Cal Fire works with a bulldozer crew near Diamond Mountain Road as the Glass Fire burns in Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: A tree smolders off of Diamond Mountain Road as the Glass Fire burns in Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: A-1 water tender Dale Elevatorski watches as planes make fire retardant air drops while the Glass Fire burns about a mile out of downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: A helicopter refills water for an air drop as the Glass Fire burns about a mile out of downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: The Glass Fire burns about a mile out of downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: A Boeing 747 supertanker does a fire retardant air drop as the Glass Fire burns about a mile out of downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: The Glass Fire burns about a mile out of downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 30: A helicopter does an air drop as the Glass Fire burns about a mile out of downtown Calistoga, Calif., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Sacramento firefighters light a backfire to prevent the Glass Fire from jumping Highway 29 near Mora Avenue in Calistoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Sacramento firefighters light a backfire to prevent the Glass Fire from jumping Highway 29 near Mora Avenue in Calistoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Sacramento firefighters light a backfire to prevent the Glass Fire from jumping Highway 29 near Mora Avenue in Calistoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: A Sacramento firefighter pauses as they light a backfire to prevent the Glass Fire from jumping Highway 29 near Mora Avenue in Calistoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: A Sacramento firefighter lights a backfire to prevent the Glass Fire from jumping Highway 29 near Mora Avenue in Calistoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Sacramento firefighters light a backfire to prevent the Glass Fire from jumping Highway 29 near Mora Avenue in Calistoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Sacramento firefighters light a backfire to prevent the Glass Fire from jumping Highway 29 near Mora Avenue in Calistoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Sacramento firefighter Brian Vidosh is bathed in the glow from a backfire they lit to prevent the Glass Fire from jumping Highway 29 near Mora Avenue in Calistoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA - SEPTEMBER 29: The entrance to Castello di Amorosa is photographed in Calistoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2020. The winery's warehouse sustained damage during the blaze caused by the Glass Fire. (Randy Vazquez/ Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA - SEPTEMBER 29: Venessa Close, an accounting manager at Castello di Amorosa, right, hugs colleague Katja Reuter outside of the damaged warehouse that was burnt by the Glass Fire at the winery in Calistoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2020. (Randy Vazquez/ Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA - SEPTEMBER 29: Burned bottles destroyed by the Glass Fire lay outside the warehouse at Castello di Amorosa in Calistoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2020. (Randy Vazquez/ Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA - SEPTEMBER 29: The warehouse at Castello di Amorosa sustained damage during a blaze that burned a portion of the warehouse in Calistoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2020. (Randy Vazquez/ Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA - SEPTEMBER 29: Georg Salzner, president of Castello di Amorosa, walks past the winery's warehouse that was damaged during a blaze caused by the Glass Fire in Calistoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2020. (Randy Vazquez/ Bay Area News Group)
CALISTOGA - SEPTEMBER 29: The warehouse at Castello di Amorosa sustained damage during a blaze that burned a portion of the warehouse in Calistoga, Calif., on Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2020. (Randy Vazquez/ Bay Area News Group)
ST. HELENA - SEPTEMBER 29: A downed electrical pole lays near North Fork Crystal Road in St. Helena, Calif., on Tuesday, Sep. 29, 2020. (Randy Vazquez/ Bay Area News Group)
DEER PARK, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Nancy Ambrosini, right, and her daughter Chloee carry water from the family's pool to put out hot spots in the rubble of their home in the Deer Park community just north of St. Helena, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. The family has lived there for 24 years and evacuated, but weren't able to save any of their belongings. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
OAKVILLE, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: A waxing gibbous moon rises near a windmill at the Nickel & Nickel Winery along Highway 29 in Oakville, Calif., on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
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The threat of winds and rising temperatures prompted California’s power-grid managers to call for a Flex Alert on Thursday in hopes of preventing rolling blackouts. Residents are being urged to conserve electricity from 3-10 p.m. Most urban locations away from the coast will be under a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
By mid-day Wednesday, roughly 3,925,000 acres had burned statewide in California this year, an area 33 times the size of the city of San Jose and five times the size of Yosemite National Park. Put in context, 1 out of every 25 acres in California has burned this year. The previous modern record was half that — 1,975,000 acres in 2018.
“You look at the statewide fire map, and you say how can that be?” said Scott McLean, a spokesman for Cal Fire, the state’s main firefighting agency. “How can that happen? Is that the fault of anybody? Not specifically. We had major lightning storms last month. This is like 10 years all rolled into one.”
McLean and fire scientists around the state have noted that Northern California received half its average annual rainfall this winter. Heat waves have broken records. Decades of fire suppression have made forests in many areas unnaturally dense. The 2012-2017 drought killed millions of trees, along with brush and other vegetation that is burning now. And climate change has increased the severity of heat waves and further dried out trees, brush and grass.
“Two outlier events — the lightning and the heat waves — coincided as a double whammy. It’s just incredible,” said Max Moritz, a fire scientist with UC Santa Barbara. “And with climate change we are probably going to make these extreme events more common. This could be what we are going to see more of. When you put Diablo and Santa Ana winds on top of that, it’s really scary.”
Santa Ana winds are the infamous dry, gusty winds that blow arid air from the east toward the coast in the fall, particularly October, in Southern California. Diablo winds are the equivalent in Northern California.
Because of those winds, and the fact that October is usually the month when vegetation is driest after a long summer before the first heavy rains begin in November, October can be particularly deadly for fires.
Five of the seven most destructive wildfires in California history, measured by structures destroyed, have occurred in October or November, including the 1991 Oakland Hills Fire, the 2017 Wine Country fires, and the 2018 Camp Fire in Paradise.
“Fire season isn’t winding down. We still have a way to go,” McLean said.
In Wine Country, favorable weather allowed firefighters to claim their first containment of the blaze Tuesday evening and limit its spread to less than 2,000 additional acres overnight. By Wednesday evening, the Glass Fire had grown to 51,266 acres in size and was 2% contained. It has destroyed 204 structures, including several wineries, like the Chateau Boswell Winery in St. Helena. Its cause was still under investigation.
The flames have encroached on some of the world’s most well-known vineyards, including $5 million worth of wine lost at the Napa Valley’s “castle on a hill,” Castello di Amorosa. The iconic Meadowood resort — including its three-Michelin-starred restaurant — also took extensive damage, but its owner vowed to rebuild.
In Santa Rosa, many of the evacuation orders were downgraded late Tuesday to warnings, allowing about 22,600 residents to return home. About 13,000 Santa Rosa residents are still under evacuation orders, as is the whole town of Calistoga in the Napa Valley.
On Wednesday night, a new round of evacuation orders was issued for areas between Old Lawley Toll Road and Pope Valley Road from Ink Grade Road to Aetna Springs Road, as well as all recreational areas in or near Robert Louis Stevenson State Park. Highway 29 from Tubbs Lane to the Lake County line remains open to through vehicle traffic.
The fire is largely burning in the brushy hillsides and oak woodlands around Napa Valley, but also is threatening some areas of Sonoma County, including the community of Kenwood. Fire officials expect conditions to deteriorate through Friday night with higher temperatures, lower humidity and gusts up to 30 mph at the highest elevations.
“We’re looking at a very similar wind event as when this fire first started about three days ago,” said incident commander Billy See. “So now’s the time for our firefighters to buckle down.”
In an 11 p.m. update, the weather service said the fire “remains extremely active in the hills.” Temperatures along the fire line were in the 80s and humidity values were in the 20 percent range.
Update at 11 PM – The #GlassFire 🔥 remains extremely active in the hills. Current weather along the fireline remains in the 80s with humidity in the 20% range. Winds are generally West to Northwest. #cawx#cafire Timelapse from Mt St Helena pic.twitter.com/a70dT8OtjH
Brandon Chaney, proprietor and CEO of Fairwinds Estate Winery, returned to see the remnants of his Calistoga winery and tasting room for the first time Wednesday — two days after the Glass Fire turned the tasting room to rubble and left only the outer concrete walls of the main winery building still standing.
Although both buildings, which are situated on Silverado Trail just east of downtown Calistoga, were completely destroyed, a wine cave tucked underneath the hill behind the winery has saved the lion’s share of the company’s wine — at least 50,000 cases, Chaney estimates.
Despite his immense losses and the lengthy insurance claim process that lies ahead, Chaney was already discussing his plans to rebuild.
“Making wine is our passion and just because we had a tragedy, does not mean we’re going to abandon our passion,” he said.
“Napa Valley isn’t going anywhere,” Chaney said about the annual threat of wildfires to the future of the region’s famous wine industry. “These are some of the best wineries in the world.”
Staff writer Jason Green contributed to this report.
