At Least 10 Dead, More Than 100 Missing as Wildfires Ravage California's Wine Country

By Cara Strickland, Scott Wilson, Breena Kerr and Kristine Phillips, The Washington Post

10 October 17

 

fter battling massive wildfires that have killed at least 10 people in California’s wine country and torched 107,000 acres across the northern part of the state, firefighters are hoping for some reprieve Tuesday morning as strong winds that fanned flames the night before continue to weaken.

Daniel Berlant, assistant deputy director for Cal Fire, said winds have slowed to single-digit speeds, down from 50 to 60 mph reported Monday.

“That’s given us a good opportunity to make progress on these fires,” Belant said. “We’re hoping to continue to see less wind and cooler temperatures. That combination is a welcomed sight compared to what we dealt with just 24 hours ago.”

Still, Belant said, firefighters are continuing to battle 17 large wildfires that have destroyed 1,500 homes and commercial buildings across several Northern California counties and sent more than 20,000 people fleeing for safety.

“We don’t have containment figures on any of the fires,” he said. “They’re not burning at the same speed.”

Ten people from California’s wine country have been reported dead as of Tuesday morning, and the governor’s Office of Emergency Services warned that the death toll could rise. Seven of whom were in Sonoma County, where officials have also received more than 100 missing-persons reports. Sonoma County spokesman Scott Alonso said that authorities have found a few of the missing persons, but most of the reports are still under investigation and officials continue to receive more.

Two of the deaths were reported in the Atlas Fire in Napa County. One person was killed during a smaller but fast-moving fire in Mendocino County to the north, said Jonathan Cox, a battalion chief and spokesman for Cal Fire.

Another death, which brings the death toll to a total of 11, was reported in Yuba County near the Sacramento area, outside of the state’s wine country, Belant said.

“This is really serious. It’s moving fast,” Gov. Jerry Brown (D) said Monday at a news conference in which he declared an emergency in seven counties. “The heat, the lack of humidity and the winds are all driving a very dangerous situation and making it worse. It’s not under control by any means. But we’re on it in the best way we know how.”

Later on Monday, Brown wrote a five-page letter to President Trump seeking federal emergency aid. A vocal critic of Trump’s politics, Brown wrote that he has “determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that an effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments and supplemental federal assistance is necessary.”

The fires, which whipped up overnight Sunday, added to what has already been a severe fire season in the West. More than 8 million acres have burned in at least four states, raising questions from across the political spectrum about the connection to climate change and forest management practices.

The current wildfires had burned more than 73,000 acres in Northern California by Monday evening, nearly all of those in Sonoma and Napa counties, the heartland of the state’s renowned wine industry.

The pace of the burn took firefighters by surprise: The fires charred 20,000 acres in about 12 hours, which Cox called “a phenomenal rate of growth.” He said firefighters had “zero percent” containment and warned that, while winds had weakened slightly over the course of the day, “because of heat and low humidity, fire growth is still likely.”

The situation in Santa Rosa, the largest city in Sonoma County, appeared dire. The Tubbs Fire, as the biggest blaze in Sonoma is known, sped southwest from Calistoga in Napa Valley, jumped Highway 101 and entered Santa Rosa. Cal Fire officials said the cause is under investigation.

A resident, Ron Dodds, told TV station KTVU that “people are running red lights, there is chaos ensuing.”

“It’s a scary time,” Dodds said. “It looks like Armageddon.”

The city imposed a curfew Monday, running from 6:45 p.m. until sunrise Tuesday, to prevent looting in the evacuation zone, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Kaiser Permanente evacuated about 130 patients from the Santa Rosa Medical Center by ambulance and private bus early Monday morning, according to Jenny Mack, the health system’s public relations director for Northern California. The patients were taken to Kaiser Permanente in San Rafael, in Marin County, and to other hospitals and evacuation sites.

Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital also evacuated all of its patients. By Monday afternoon, the hospital was inaccessible because of road closures.

Will Powers, a Cal Fire representative, said the California Highway Patrol was evacuating some people by helicopter in rural areas of Sonoma, Napa and Lake counties.

The vineyards of Napa and Sonoma counties are the source of some of the country’s best wines, and the scores of tasting rooms are among the state’s most popular tourism destinations.

There are more than 100,000 acres of wine grapes planted in the two counties, which are home to more than 650 wineries, according to the Wine Institute, which represents the industry in the state.

The two counties produce about 13 percent of all wine made in California, according to trade group’s data; a much higher percentage of the most acclaimed and coveted U.S. wines come from Napa and Sonoma.

The sector’s economic impact is immense: The Wine Institute estimates that the industry generates more than $55 billion in economic activity in California — and twice as much nationally — each year.

Witness accounts Monday suggested that damage to the industry could be significant, especially if the fires continue to burn in the days ahead.

“It looks like a bombing run,” Joe Nielsen, the winemaker at Donelan Family Wines in Sonoma County, told SFGate. “Just chimneys and burned-out cars and cooked trees.”

Images showed one Napa winery, Signorello Estate, completely destroyed by fire.

Evacuations began at about 11 p.m. Sunday evening and continued through Monday.

Some people left burning homes for evacuation centers, only to find those centers threatened by fire a few hours later.

In Rincon Valley, on the northeast outskirts of Santa Rosa, pastor Andy VomSteeg opened his New Vintage Church to those fleeing the fire. By Monday afternoon, more than 400 people, many of them elderly, had taken refuge inside.

“I left without my clothes,” said Nell Magnuson, a resident of the luxury retirement home Villa Capri. She wore only a maroon robe.

“We had to get out in a hurry,” she said. “When we left, the flames were in the second floor.”

Magnuson, who was worried about where she would sleep Monday night, said that “our whole lives have turned upside down. We don’t have a clue what’s going to happen. It’s just losing everything. All the pictures, my whole life.”

But before her concerns could be addressed, the fire began to threaten the church.

“You caught us just in time,” Magnuson said as she headed for the exit. “We’re being evacuated again.”

Thick smoke hung over Sonoma County, and ash rained down in some towns. People wore masks on the streets, and businesses shut down.

In Healdsburg, a town nearly circled by fire 16 miles north of Santa Rosa, exhausted evacuees bought supplies, fueled up and looked for a place to stay for the night.

Cindy Luzzi, who was visiting her son and his family in Santa Rosa, said her daughter-in-law got a call from a neighbor at about 2:30 a.m., telling them to evacuate.

“At first we didn’t think it was anything to worry about. Then we went downstairs, opened our front door and looked toward the center of town,” Luzzi said. “It was just red, nothing but red.”

Luzzi and her daughter-in-law and two young grandchildren took refuge at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery in nearby Geyserville from 3 a.m. until 8 a.m., waiting for her son to join them. They were then able to book a room at the Best Western in town. But by 2 p.m., the hotel had filled up.

Shortages of rooms, bottled water and fuel were affecting surrounding towns as well.

“We’re almost out of gas,” said Hardeep Gill, who owns a filling station in downtown Healdsburg, just off Highway 101.

Gill, who came into work because his employees couldn’t get there, said he had lost a commercial building he owned worth about $9 million.

“I got a call around 3 a.m. because the fire sprinklers were going off,” he said. “That’s when I knew it was a total loss.”