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Huge Fires In Napa and Sonoma Counties

WalnutBaron

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For those of you who enjoy vacationing in the Wine Country of California, a series of fires have conjoined in what is now being called the Tubbs Fire, having burned more than 20,000 acres in Napa and Sonoma Counties and still raging out of control.

The Hilton Sonoma Wine Country hotel has burned in Santa Rosa and many other landmarks have burned as well.

Another fire in Napa County--the Atlas Fire--has burned vineyards on the famous Atlas Peak appellation and is heading down the hill toward the communities of St. Helena and Napa.

The fire is being driven by high winds which are not expected to subside until Tuesday evening.
 

klpca

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Wow. I just saw this on my instagram feed, of all places. My daughter went to Sonoma State, so of course has a lot of friends there still. I saw that they evacuated the campus. We have been through a couple of large fires and it is a very frightening experience. Let's hope that the winds die down sooner than expected.
 

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We have family in Santa Rosa and they are all in shelters. Several of their friends have lost their homes. 2 of the hospitals have been evacuated and at least one is still in danger. Devastating. Our area is also under red alert warning and we are nervous as we live in a heavily wooded area w/ very narrow streets.

Ingrid
 

wilma

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On our way to Santa Rosa to pick up my fil who lived at varenna/oakmont senior complex that burned down last night.
 

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How awful. We live in Southern California and we have a fire too in the Anaheim Hills that started today. We do not live close by but the ashes are flying everywhere and are sticking on the patio floor and it looks like snow. The smell of smoke is pretty strong but we do not face any danger here.

I feel for the people who face losing everything. So sad.
 

WalnutBaron

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Update: The beautiful and venerable Silverado Country Club is gone. Silverado has hosted various PGA events in the past.

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For those who have in the past purchased Chateau St. Jean wines, the winery has burned down.

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The William Hill Estate Winery has burned to the ground.

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As this updated story confirms, many famous wineries and businesses have burned or are threatened, including the esteemed French Laundry Restaurant in St. Helena (not burned at last notice but threatened).
 

SmithOp

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How awful. We live in Southern California and we have a fire too in the Anaheim Hills that started today. We do not live close by but the ashes are flying everywhere and are sticking on the patio floor and it looks like snow. The smell of smoke is pretty strong but we do not face any danger here.

I feel for the people who face losing everything. So sad.

Its spreading fast with the high winds, I got a phone alert about evacuations.

http://abc7.com/homes-charred-evacuations-ordered-for-anaheim-hills-fire/2512065/


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 

Passepartout

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I was burned out of an apartment in Anaheim back in the 80's. Santa Ana winds pushed it from palm frond and shake shingled roof and spread ash and embers ahead of it. You are in our thoughts. Pray for rain!

Jim
 

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Chateau St Jean was one of my favorite wineries....This is going to be devastating even to the estates that don't burn down, as a lot of supplier vinyards are surely burning down. 3-5 years for recovery of lost vines.
 

WalnutBaron

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Here is the latest update. Winds are not expected to die down until at least tomorrow morning and there is no rain in the forecast. Depending on the extent of the damage, there is likely to be a shortage of Napa and Sonoma Valley wines for years to come, since it takes 3-5 years for young vines to come into maturity to begin producing world class grapes.
 

DavidnRobin

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Update: The beautiful and venerable Silverado Country Club is gone. Silverado has hosted various PGA events in the past.

While severely damaged in some parts - the Silverado Country Club is not gone.
Tragic, never-the-less.
 

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The description of the firestorm by KTVU weatherman that came down the Fountain Grove valley (road) - Santa Rosa - from a fire that started west of Calistoga was fascinating.

Essentially, the firestorm was pushed down the valley by 60+ mph winds creating a blowtorch effect (venturi) at the bottom where it flattens out (where Hilton and Kmart were) and jumped the freeway (101), and then torched the Coffey neighborhood (not a home standing...). An urban firestorm...
People only had minutes to escape in the middle of the night.

Overall, 13 confirmed dead with 100+ unaccounted for so far.
1500 structures destroyed.
Numbers are going to go higher when all is done.
 

1Kflyerguy

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Based on the evening news tonight, it seems like the wind is picking back up. Still at zero containment on the fires, the damage and destruction just keeps comming to the area.
 
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WalnutBaron

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While severely damaged in some parts - the Silverado Country Club is not gone.
Tragic, never-the-less.
More good news. William Hill Winery received only minor cosmetic and landscaping damage, but the winery survived. In addition, the owners of Chateua St. Jean said yesterday that they could not confirm that the winery has been destroyed because they cannot get access. Hopefully, they too missed the worst of it.
 

WalnutBaron

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Based on the evening news tonight, it seems like the wind is picking back up. Still at zero containment on the fires, the damage and destruction just keeps comming to the area.
Today is supposed to be windy, with even windier conditions expected for Saturday. No real containment yet, with three separate huge fires burning--the Tubbs Fire, the Atlas Fire, and the Patrick Fire. Napa, Yountville, St. Helena and other towns are still threatened, as fires burning to the north near Calistoga, west from Sonoma County and east from Atlas Peak are still burning.
 

klpca

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Check out this story about the president of Sonoma State and her husband. They darn near got killed. Talk about lucky! http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Sonoma-State-president-husband-describe-12268258.php

Not waking up in an emergency situations is one of my biggest fears. We are heavy sleepers. We were tent camping near Mammoth about 10 years ago and slept through a bear breaking into the car next to our campsite. It's a blessing and a curse.
 

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We have slowly been checking in with our favorite winemakers and vineyards. So far everyone is ok. The only one that seems to have suffered any physical damage is Stags' Leap. But with today's winds and evacuations we will wait until next week to check in again.
 

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Facebook post from college friend:

Last Sunday night/Monday morning at 1:30 a.m., my family and I woke up to the smell of thick smoke and a red glow in the sky in all directions. The power was off. In less than 10 minutes we gathered by flashlight what we could carry and rushed out the door to smoke so thick, we couldn't see our cars. Embers showered us as we loaded up. Lungs burned as we snaked through the back roads of neighborhoods already on fire, avoiding the sure gridlock on the 101. A few miles south of Santa Rosa, we met up in a Safeway parking lot with hundreds of others who had fled as we had. Children were in pajamas; some people hadn't even had time to grab shoes. By 3 a.m., Starbucks was giving away coffee and Safeway was handing out water and food. We had closed on this beautiful home just last month and had arrived a week ago with a load of furniture and art from AK. We were putting the finishing touches on what would be a respite from Alaska's harsh winters and a home base for our kids attending college in the area. Yesterday, we saw video footage letting us know our house was gone. While the trauma, loss, and grief are still so fresh, an overwhelming sense of gratitude is the strongest emotion. We are safe and have each other. Thanks to all who have asked! Unlike so many, we still have our Alaska home, a soft place to land and heal. And we have the love and support of our friends and family!
 

MULTIZ321

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Facebook post from college friend:

Last Sunday night/Monday morning at 1:30 a.m., my family and I woke up to the smell of thick smoke and a red glow in the sky in all directions. The power was off. In less than 10 minutes we gathered by flashlight what we could carry and rushed out the door to smoke so thick, we couldn't see our cars. Embers showered us as we loaded up. Lungs burned as we snaked through the back roads of neighborhoods already on fire, avoiding the sure gridlock on the 101. A few miles south of Santa Rosa, we met up in a Safeway parking lot with hundreds of others who had fled as we had. Children were in pajamas; some people hadn't even had time to grab shoes. By 3 a.m., Starbucks was giving away coffee and Safeway was handing out water and food. We had closed on this beautiful home just last month and had arrived a week ago with a load of furniture and art from AK. We were putting the finishing touches on what would be a respite from Alaska's harsh winters and a home base for our kids attending college in the area. Yesterday, we saw video footage letting us know our house was gone. While the trauma, loss, and grief are still so fresh, an overwhelming sense of gratitude is the strongest emotion. We are safe and have each other. Thanks to all who have asked! Unlike so many, we still have our Alaska home, a soft place to land and heal. And we have the love and support of our friends and family!

Thanks for sharing your friend's post. My thoughts and prayers go out to them and the many families who lost loved ones and those that are struggling to cope with these horrendous fires.

Richard
 

WalnutBaron

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Our oldest son and DIL and our little granddaughter and their two dogs live in Napa. They have been staying with us since Monday, with no timetable for when they will return home--assuming they have a home to return to. We are grateful that they are all safe. But the fires continue to burn on three sides of the city of Napa, with no real containment on any of them. Winds are expected to be strong again today and tomorrow, so the fires could grow and new areas could be threatened depending on wind direction. The fires have burned more than 175,000 acres, have displaced tens of thousands, with more than 3,500 homes and structures destroyed. The official death toll is 31, but hundreds are missing. Last night, we saw the plight of a young woman who told of her mother who was missing. Her car was in the driveway, the cat was in the house, but there is no answer on her cellphone and she has not talked to her mother since Sunday. This kind of story is being repeated in some form or fashion by many other families throughout Napa, Sonoma, and Solano Counties.

Last night my son told me, "I'm not saying this is worse than the terrible hurricanes, but at least you know when the storm has passed. We don't know if our home is still standing, and we can't get in to check, and we have no idea when we will be able to." We're doing what we can to keep their spirits up, and we all acknowledge and repeat over and over that the main thing is that they are all safe.

Here is an updated report as of this morning.
 
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