Famed Winery Destroyed By Glass Fire; Thousands Evacuate Napa Valley Area

Two thousand people in California’s Napa Valley wine growing area have been ordered to evacuate their homes, and another 3,000 have been told to prepare to, amid rapidly-spreading wildfires which have destroyed at least one winery.

Chateau Boswell, a 40-year-old family-run winery near St Helena, was on fire on Sunday night, as firefighters desperately tried to put out the blaze.

Napa County Office of Emergency Services said 64 wineries sit within the evacuation or evacuation warning areas, along with rural estates and remote, unincorporated communities.

High winds, gusting at 55mph, were hampering attempts to put out the Glass Fire, which broke out at 3:50am on Sunday and has so far burned 2,500 acres near St. Helena.

St. Helena, around 15 miles north of Napa, has been the site of prized wineries since the 1860s. The area is home to Beringer, one of California’s oldest continuously operating wineries, founded by Jacob Beringer and his brother Frederick in 1875.