NAPA (CBS SF) — A small army of firefighters deployed along Lower Chiles Road early Tuesday, preparing to do battle with the advancing wall of flames from the Hennessey Fire which continued to rage out-of-control and had burned through more than 2,700 acres.
Nearby stood Phil Sunseri and a group of workers from the Nichelini Winery, the famed wine growing region’s oldest family-owned winery built in 1890. They had prepared for this moment for years since wildfires began roaring through the region.
“We’ve prepare for fire every year,” he said. “The fire can be overwhelming. You just do the best you can.”
Winery employees had cut firebreaks on the property and were working as guides for firefighters, showing them how to tap into the winery’s water system and the best places to battle the fire.
Still, Sunseri knew it may not be enough.
“When it gets to a certain stage, we will leave,” he said.
The fire started in the 60 block of Hennessey Ridge Road, east of St. Helena early Monday morning as the region was being pelted by dry lightning strikes.
The lightning had kept some in Napa County up for two nights straight, worried about lightning-strike fires.
“Last night it was loud and I could tell it was close, but I imagine lightning might’ve had something to do with it,” said Nicholini Winery President Bill Narlock. “You can’t replace it. We’re gonna do everything we can to protect it.”
Calfire said early Tuesday they were three wildfires being battled in Wine Country. The Hennessey Fire was at 2,700 acres, had destroyed one structure and two outbuildings. The Gamble Fire was burning in an area off Berryessa Knoxville Road north of Lake Berryessa and west of state Highway 16 was the largest at 5,000 acres.
And an unnamed fire near the Putah Bridge was at 4,500 acres. Neither the Gamble Fire nor the Putah bridge blaze were threatening structures.
The fire was one of several fires that followed a second wave of atmospheric energy from Tropical Depression Fausto rolling into the San Francisco Bay Area early Monday, filling skies over the North Bay with lightning, igniting wildfires in wine country and knocking out the power to Healdsburg.
Cal Fire said it responded to 60 spot wildfires fires on Monday in Napa and Sonoma counties. All but two — the Hennessey Fire and the Gamble Fire — were contained to 1 acre or less.
As the Hennessey Fire flames advanced, mandatory evacuations were ordered in the heavily wooded area, covering Highway 128 from Chiles Pope Valley Road to Lower Chiles Valley Road, Highway 128 from Chiles Valley Road to Monticello Road, Chiles Pope Valley Road from Highway 128 to Lower Chiles Valley Road and all of Hennessey Ridge Road.
Evacuation warnings are were issued for Highway 128 at Silverado Trail to Chiles Pope Valley Road, including Pritchard Hills area, and Highway 128 at Lower Chiles Valley Road to Turtle Rock.
An evacuation center is located at Crosswalk Community Church, located at 2590 First Street, in Napa. Authorities have also shut down Chiles Valley Road, Sage Canyon Road and Highway 128.
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Hennessey Fire: Firefighters Battle To Save Historic Napa Valley Winery From Advancing Wall Of Flame - CBS San Francisco
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