No major forest fires in the wine-growing region yet, but residents remain on alert

There have been no major fires in Napa County this year, but residents of the region know that everything can change in a matter of minutes.

JR Shaffer vividly remembers going into his backyard to see if there was any strange noise nearby.

“It looked like the sun. It was crazy as hell,” Shaffer said.

Deer Park residents are well aware of the amount of fuel near their homes and the recent drought, especially after a devastating inferno raged through Napa nearly four years ago.

Charred trees serve as a reminder of how close the Glass Fire that raged through Deer Park came to destroying his home.

“I couldn’t believe it when I realized it was a fire. It was as crazy as it gets,” Shaffer said.

Since the fire in late September 2020, Shaffer has erected a metal fence instead of a wooden one to reinforce his home.

He removes all vegetation and dry bushes from the side of the road so that cigarettes thrown from passing cars have less chance of starting a fire.

“It’s just dry, the grass, everything is just dry,” Shaffer said.

Nearby residents are doing their best to maintain defensible areas and are keeping a close eye on the amount of fuel the fire is producing.

“It’s dry. In fire season, when it burns, it burns. But it’s back and ready to go again,” said Marvin Asher.

The National Weather Service has updated its wildfire warning to include inland Napa Valley. For residents like Shaffer, wildfire season appears to be getting longer and starting earlier.

“It seems like this is happening to us more and more every year,” Shaffer said.

He and his neighbors are aware that their control is limited.

“When you live in the country, you’re always on alert,” Asher said.

“Maybe we’re just paying more attention than we used to,” Shaffer said.

They have seen how quickly and unexpectedly an inferno can consume homes. Just recently, Shaffer said, a fire broke out not far from his house.

He said firefighters put out the 60-hectare fire fairly quickly, but since the fire four years ago, they are prepared for anything – at any time.