Famed winery destroyed in California wildfires

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Fires have engulfed the famed Chateau Boswell winery in St Helena destroying the famous 41-year-old stone chateau as flames forced evacuations of neighborhoods in the area and firefighters to the region to tackle the blaze.

The famous family winery was caught in the Glass fire on Sunday as the flames ripped through the Napa-Sonoma wine region and in far Northern California’s Shasta County.

The business was one of only a handful of privately owned family wineries amidst the 554 wineries in the Napa Valley, according to its website.

Evacuation orders were put in place for at least 2,000 residents near Santa Rosa and St Helena as of Sunday night CBS News reported.

The Napa-Sonoma wine country fire had burned 17 square miles (44 square kilometers) as of early on Monday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The causes of both new fires were under investigation.

As a result of the blaze, a hospital in the area was forced to evacuate with ambulances rushing patients out of the building. St Helena Hospital, a 151-bed facility in Napa County on Sunday morning as the fire continued to burn down buildings and homes.

Power was shut off by Pacific Gas and Electric in targeted areas over the weekend to prevent winds from arching or causing power equipment damage that might spark new fires.

Wineries in California, Oregon and Washington been subject to severe fires in recent years, but the impact of this years blazes has been especially bad.

Experts say the fires, long a feature of California and the Pacific Northwest, have become more frequent and more intense as result of climate change.

Smoke from fires has also continued to taint winery crops in other regions, with many now knowing the extent of the smoke damage caused.

The wildfires are likely to be “without question the single worst disaster the wine-grape growing community has ever faced,” said John Aguirre, president of the California Association of Winegrape Growers.

More than 8,100 California wildfires have scorched 5,780 square miles (14,970 square kilometers) across the state so far this year, destroying more than 7,000 buildings and killed 26 people.

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