As I sit in our living room writing this, I see smoke still rising. A devastating fire, apparently caused by vehicle exhaust, began very near our home yesterday (June 20th) and burned throughout the night. Spotter helicopters are still flying and fire crews are viciously working to achieve containment. We have no power, phone service or water; a small price to pay considering the proximity of the fire to our residence. The only news we have received through the night has come from residents of our neighboring area. Last night, many of them were speculating that their homes were destroyed. Darkness fell before any one was allowed in to assess their damage. Fear, anger, sorrow, exhaustion and moreover, thankfulness to be alive were forefront as we stood together and watched the Trabing Fire burn.
The Trabing Fire is one of three to hit the Santa Cruz Mountains and County in less than thirty days. The Summit Fire in the Corralitos area (May 22, 2008) and the Trabing Fire (June 20, 2008) were very short distances from our Regan Estate Vineyard. The Summit Fire burned dangerously close on the North side Martin/Bonny Doon while the Trabing Fire burned to the West. The Summit Fire, which made San Francisco Fire national news while fire crews struggled for over a week to contain it, burned (6/11/08) approximately six times more acreage than the Trabing Fire. Flames were Trabing Fire visible from our vineyard in Corralitos and the area was threatened. We are (6/20/08) thankful to report that Regan Estate Vineyard did not sustain any damage from Summit Fire either fire.
In the time frame between the Summit Fire and the Trabing Fire, the Martin/ Bonny Doon Fire (June 11, 2008) swept through another part of the Santa Cruz Mountains and threatened vineyards and wineries in that area as well. And again, the wineries and vineyards survived without damage. Santa Cruz Mountains Vineyards do and have burned in the past. In August of 1996, The Chalone Wine Group experienced a wildfire that destroyed approximately 75% of its producing acreage at the Carmenet Vineyard in Sonoma County. The fire was Santa Cruz started by a PG&E incident and burned acreage consisting of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc grapes. The timing of this fire was critical, as harvest was soon to begin. The fire left many of the vines with wilted or crispy leaves which left little shade for the fruit – much of which Monterey Bay escaped burning. The bark on some of the vines was scorched. In most instances, if a vine is older and strong and its roots escape damage, the vine will not die. It is typically not known what survives until the vines shoot new growth in spring.
There is not a vast amount a vineyardist can do to prepare for these types of catastrophes. Clearing the undergrowth from the vines helps to deter fire, but this is not necessarily done in vineyards using organic practices. Since herbicides are not used in these vineyards, many smaller plants grow around the base of the vines and provide a welcome mat for fires.
At Regan Estate Vineyard, we practice sustainable agriculture. Each April, winter weeds between the rows of vines are mowed and undergrowth is kept to a minimum. The mowed material, along with prunings, is then disced back into the Summit Fire, Corralitos, May 22, 2008 soil, enriching it with nutrients and humus. When vines are planted closely together, they can actually protect each other from fire. In some cases vineyards have, within their agricultural structure, a type of built-in fire protection. Methods of frost protection, which include overhead sprinklers, can and have been used to protect vineyards in Napa Valley fires. The sprinklers are generally used to spray the vines in winter and cover the shoots with water which then freezes. The insulated ice jacket protects the shoots and keeps them just warm enough to avoid freezing. When vineyards in Napa Valley were threatened in years past, vineyard owners there were able to turn on their drip irrigation and overhead sprinkling systems to save their vineyards.
Fire season for 2008 in California is still in its early stages. The state’s experience with wildfires this year has been astronomical and devastating for many, to say the least. (Twenty six homes were lost in the Trabing Fire alone.) While we can’t control the natural systems involved with fire, we should all be more conscious of the obvious ways to reduce fire hazards around our homes and in our vineyards.
