California wine country wildfire forces evacuation of hospital, hundreds of homes

A wind-driven wildfire erupted on Sunday in the heart of northern California's Napa Valley wine country to spread across nearly 1000ha, forcing the evacuation of a hospital and hundreds of homes.

Fire crews were out in force, scrambling to fend off flames threatening neighborhoods and vineyards at the northern end of the famed wine-growing valley and surrounding hillsides, about 120km north of San Francisco.

The blaze, dubbed the Glass Fire, broke out before dawn near Calistoga and raced toward the adjacent communities of Deer Park and St. Helena, with flames reaching within a mile of the Adventist Health St. Helena hospital.

All 55 patients were evacuated by ambulance and helicopter over the course of five hours from about 7am, hospital spokeswoman Linda Williams said.

“We had ambulances lined up from all over the Bay area,” she said, adding that although smoke shrouded the facility, the skies above were clear enough for helicopters' airlift efforts.

It was the second wildfire-related evacuation of the 151-bed hospital in a month, after a massive cluster of lightning-sparked blazes swept several counties north of the San Francisco Bay region in August.

Authorities had ordered thousands to evacuate by Monday morning. Residents of 1,400 more homeswere  warned to be ready to flee at a moment's notice, said Tyree Zander, a spokesman for the state's forestry and fire protection department (CalFire).

Flames stoked by winds gusting up to 80km/h had scorched about 3,000ha of grassy rolling hillsides and oak woodlands with little or no containment by late Sunday, Zander said.

The cause of the fire is being investigated. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

The blaze erupted midway through the traditional grape-harvesting period in the Napa Valley, world renowned as one of California's premiere wine-producing regions. The area's 475 wineries account for just 4% of the state's total annual grape harvest but half of the retail value of all California wines sold, according to the Napa Valley Vintners trade group.

Tom Kaljian, 78, a realtor who owns a house about halfway between Calistoga and St. Helena, defied evacuation orders to spend the day with his wife hosing down their home and dry brush along a fence line separating their property from the Silverado Trail, a key north-south roadway.

“We were told to get out of here, but I was trying to protect our little abode, so we stayed,” he said.

After firefighters told him the house was no longer in danger, he added, “I stopped watering at that point, and came in and took a nap.”

The Glass Fire came as the Pacific Gas and Electric Company said it was temporarily halting power to transmission lines in parts of 16 counties across northern and central California to guard against greater wildfire risks in hot, windy, dry weather.

The public safety power shutoffs were expected to affect about 65,000 regional homes and businesses, said PG&E, the state's largest electric utility.

A red flag warning for extreme wildfire risks for Napa Valley would run through Monday morning, Zander said.

CalFire said a fire weather watch would start on Monday across much of Southern California, following the forecast return of hot, gusty Santa Ana winds and low humidity.

California wildfires have ravaged about 1.5 million hectares in the first nine months of 2020, far exceeding any single year in state history, killing 26 people and destroying more than 7,000 structures. — Reuters