As harvest begins and the fire season approaches, wineries are steeling themselves for what’s to come, hoping to get their grapes harvested before wildfire risks increase. Many have prepared, mitigated and are monitoring.
CalFire reports there were 5,383 wildfires so far this year with 827,880 acres burned. More than half of those acres were in the Park Fire, with 429,000 acres, which started more than a month ago on July 24.
The state agency reported, “While the number of fires in the state is keeping pace with the five-year average, the number of acres burned is much higher than the five-year average. Climate predictions are indicating above-normal temperatures for all of California, resulting in an abnormally high fire risk for the remainder of the year.”
Mitigation Success Story in Dry Creek Valley
One winery, Bella Vineyards, found out preparing with the help of a wildfire contractor paid off this year when the Point Fire that burned 1,207 acres atop Bradford Mountain overlooking Dry Creek Valley on June 16. Dozens of wineries lay below the fire and workers and residents were evacuated. At least one mountaintop vineyard, Lago di Merlo Vineyards, was damaged by CalFire’s fire retardant. Owner Harry Merlo Jr. said 20% of his 100 acres were covered in pink retardant.
But the team at Bella Vineyards was more fortunate, said their insurance agent Liz Bishop of Petaluma-based Hefferan Insurance Services, thanks to preparation, training and the services of a professional wildfire contractor, the insurer’s partner, Ember Defense.
While most wineries are aware they should get rid of wildfire fuel around their property, attractive landscaping is not always as suspect. But those picturesque Italian cypress climbing up the winery walls have got to go, Bishop said.
“Maybe traditionally that’s been something that really helped them identify their Italian heritage, but those things are really, really flammable. They have high oil content. And they literally have to be removed from the property because they are just candles.”
In addition, wineries should limb up, or maintain a space between the lowest tree branches and the ground or shrubs. As CalFire advises on its website, “Allow extra vertical space between shrubs and trees. Lack of vertical space can allow a fire to move from the ground to the brush to the treetops like a ladder.”
Bishop said new high-powered sprinklers (FireBozz is one brand), Vulcan vents and gutter guards are also essentials. “What a lot of wineries are doing is getting appropriate water on-site, and then they’re spraying these powerful sprinklers that can shoot 300 feet. And what that does is increase humidity… That humidity increase makes the fire stop. And that’s really a powerful effect,” she said.
She credits this technique with saving her client, Bella Vineyards,’ structures. The team started up their sprinklers about four hours before the fire came close to their property.
“One of the reasons that Bella was so on point was they knew this fire was coming at them. Amber Wildfire Defense has a special software that allows them to know in advance how many hours it will be until it actually comes to a property. This is the exact software used by CalFire and PG&E. And then they go out and they actually help with a response, getting the winery’s team set up with their FireBozz sprinkler systems and helping them set up and stage to actually help them make sure the fire doesn’t end up burning their structures.”
Like other wildfire defense companies, Ember Defense’s website sells as well as rents tools and supplies.
Vulcan vents are also critical equipment to install, Bishop said. “If an errant ember comes in, either during an active wildfire at the property or if it’s floating through the air, it could be just waiting to take down a winery. That’s what happened at Soda Rock Winery.” That Alexander Valley winery was destroyed in the 2018 Kincaid Fire which burned 66,231 acres.
An ember from the June Point Fire drifted across Dry Creek Valley and burned a residence 1.5 miles away, outside the evacuation area.
Today, Bradford Mountain’s burn scars look somewhat dark and ominous. But it’s already burned and there’s no fuel left. Residents say they were lucky. But the fire showed being prepared is the best approach to future wildfires risks.
