The Last Fire Season?

For more than half a decade, increasingly hot and destructive fires have threatened the very existence of Wine Country in California. In the aftermath of the most destructive season of fires ever, stakeholders are making an effort—perhaps the last—to finally put a stop to the annual season of flames.

It would be difficult to overstate the value of the wine industry to the state of California and, by extension, to the nation as a whole. Devoid of hyperbole, the statistics are staggering: The California wine industry is responsible for $114 billion (with a “b”) dollars of the American economy annually. It employs 786,000 people across the United States, pays $35 billion in wages, donates $249 million to charity and attracts 23.6 million tourists every year. In California alone, 4,200 bonded wineries account for over $1 billion in export revenue and pay out $15.2 billion in state and federal taxes annually. And while all 50 states produce wine, only one accounts for three of every five bottles sold: California. These numbers, only the very tip of the proverbial iceberg, are more than equal to making the case that the California wine industry is a critical cog in America’s economic machine.

There’s only one problem: The industry is burning to the ground.

If the iceberg is proverbial, the fires are anything but. According to a joint study from universities on three continents, in 2018, 8,500 unique fires ravaged California, costing the state over $100 billion in losses. That’s approximately one half of 1% of America’s annual GDP. Despite financial losses, loss of land and, most horribly, loss of life, the California wines produced in 2018, though young, are drinking very nicely today.

That’s not the case for 2020, when 8,200 unique fires, including the infamously destructive Glass Fire, burnt over four million acres—twice as many as any previous year—and caused smoke taint so significant that many producers refused even to produce a 2020 vintage—especially the reds, which tend to ripen later than white grapes do.

Speaking with NBC News that year, with blazes still raging across Wine Country, Cal Fire director Thom Porter stated the needs bluntly: “It’s not just more firefighters. It’s not just more aircraft. It’s not just fuel reduction project work. It’s not just defensible space or home hardening. It’s absolutely every one of those things.”

The Napa County Board of Supervisors may have been listening as Porter spoke, or perhaps they already realized that the future of their world-famous wine-producing valley, only 30 miles long by three miles wide, depended upon decisive and efficacious action to prevent future fires. In April 2021, the board voted unanimously to contribute $42.5 million over five years to improve infrastructure and combat the epidemic of fires. This money is largely intended to address the multitude of issues that Porter spoke of.

Of that $42.5 million, $5.4 million was authorized to be spent in the first year. That, coupled with an expected eight-figure payout in damages from Pacific Gas & Electric, the utility whose negligence is allegedly responsible for starting some of the fires, should cover much of the immediately required expense, but the 10-year plan is not yet fully funded. In exploring other sources of revenue, the Napa Valley Register reported that the Board is apparently divided on a proposed ballot measure that would increase sales tax by a quarter cent. Quoted in the Register, Napa County Fire Chief Geoff Belyea anticipated that this increase would raise some $10 million annually.

Since 2017, fires have destroyed more than 1,500 urban structures in Napa alone, including houses, wineries, other businesses and more. In that same period, 45,726 structures have burned in the state of California. Some of the most destructive fires, including in Wine Country, have been caused by malfunctions in outdated electrical infrastructure such as power lines and fences. Some of the money will be used to update that infrastructure, improving electrical equipment and facilities, helping to prevent fires before they even begin. The money will also be put toward much-needed land management.

Part of the reason that Wine Country has burnt so consistently in recent years is that it is, in fact, very flammable. California has over 33 million acres of forested land, and well over half of that is owned by the federal government. The state owns approximately 3% of the land. The rest is privately held or owned by Native American tribes. That which is held privately—including most of Napa Valley—is the responsibility of landowners, but a general emphasis on fire suppression rather than fire prevention has done little to promote the devotion of resources necessary to truly prevent fire outbreaks.

In April, the Napa Communities Firewise Foundation and the Napa County Fire Department unveiled a five-year plan aimed specifically at fuel reduction. It calls for the creation of fuel breaks, the clearing of roadside vegetation and other measures. As a part of this, crews have already constructed a two-and-a-half-mile-long fuel break around Circle Oaks, a hamlet just east of the city of Napa.

But firebreaks alone are unlikely to solve the problem. Many vineyard practices—including some very trendy approaches to viticulture—contribute greatly to the problem. Jean Hoefliger is a consultant who works with wineries up and down the left coast, including many in the counties of Napa and Sonoma. Asked about fire, Hoefliger was quick to point out what producers, including many that he works with, can do to help prevent fires.

“Vineyards are, 97% of the time, amazing fire breaks,” he said. “The exceptions are organic and hillside.” The problem with organic—and even more so biodynamic— vineyards is an approach that allows all kinds of flora, planted intentionally or else left alone, to thrive between the vines. Hillside vineyards rely largely on the roots of grass, shrubs and other plants to prevent erosion. And all of these plants, of course, can burn.