The Kincade fire, which has burned more than 10,000 acres, exploded threatening several famous wineries in and near Geyserville:
- Robert Young Estate Winery said fire had reached its property, burning brush and pastures, but all structures were intact as of 9:30 a.m.
- Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Geyserville was closed. “The winery is not currently in danger, but we’re without power and Geyserville is under evacuation orders,” it tweeted.
- Trentadue Winery was closed, but said around noon (Eastern) there wasn’t any immediate threat to the winery.
- Trione Vineyards & Winery was closed but said on Facebook: “Everyone is ok, the winery is good. The vineyards make good fire breaks and all of the grapes are in (mostly).”
One Geyserville resident, who lives on a ranch, told the Los Angeles Times he thought a 1,000-acre Kendall Jackson vineyard adjacent to his ranch would stop the wildfire, but the fierce winds pushed embers miles ahead, allowing the flames to leapfrog through the famous wine country area.
Meanwhile, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. shut off power to 179,000 customers in 17 counties and, in a filing with the California Public Utility Commission, said it appeared one of its transmission lines was down where the fire started.
Many will be quick to attribute the fire to global warming despite PG&E’s statement. To stop the rise in greenhouse gases and buy up to 20 years to fix global warming would cost $300 million, according to United Nations climate scientists. That’s the gross domestic product of Chile or the world’s military spending every 60 days, Bloomberg notes.
The scientists’ proposal: Lock millions of tons of carbon into the soil. Nearly 5 billion acres have been degraded by misuse, overgrazing, deforestation, etc. Nearly 2.2 million acres could be restored, turning the land to pasture, food crops or trees.
Dozens of countries are fighting back with programs designed to reverse the loss of farmland and at least 20 nations have major efforts underway to replant lost forests, a UN official told Bloomberg.
“All these countries were able to keep producing the food they needed and growing the forest cover,” he said. “The myth was that in order to increase your productivity and your food sovereignty and security you needed to slash or burn the forest. We documented that it’s not true.”