Will Bucklin always had “a pretty good vision of armageddon”. The owner of Old Hill Ranch in Sonoma valley – one of the oldest vineyards in the region – had imagined and prepared for a day when there would be a wildfire. The fire department would arrive, and they would battle to save the property and its 40 acres of 100-year-old grape vines.



“I should have been more creative with my imagination,” Bucklin said this week, under a choking haze of smoke that blotted out the surrounding mountains. Smoke and flames continued to rise from pockets of his land and several buildings lay ruined.

“I didn’t envision being out here on my own,” he said.

Like so many survivors of the wildfires that have consumed at least 150,000 acres and more than 5,000 structures in Napa and Sonoma counties, Bucklin received no warning, nor any assistance. After awakening to a “dramatic glow” around 1.30am on Monday, he stayed on his property for nearly six hours, attempting to battle the flames even after the electricity failed – and with it his running water.

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Compared with many, Bucklin was lucky. Though he lost several structures and about a dozen vines, the houses where he and his employee live remain standing. As fires continue to ravage California’s premiere wine country – Napa and Sonoma, both about 50 miles north of San Francisco – they threaten 100,000 acres of vineyards.

The industry employs more than 100,000 workers and many of the vineyards are small, family-run businesses. The harvest season has come to a screeching halt. About 90% of the grapes in Sonoma county had been picked, according to Karissa Kruse, president of Sonoma County Winegrowers, but the remainder represented wages for an agricultural workforce largely made up of immigrants.

“We still have to pay this by tomorrow,” said Rene Reyes, as he stood in the parking lot of Elsie Allen high school in Santa Rosa, clutching a phone bill. Reyes, his wife and their three-year-old daughter had been sleeping at the school for three nights. Were it not for the fires, he probably would have spent the week harvesting grapes. The day labor center had called to say there was no work. He wasn’t sure how he was going to keep his phone in service.

“It’s a big problem,” Reyes said. “We still have to pay the bills, the rent.”

The predominantly Spanish-speaking workforce has also grappled with confusion and fear, especially for those without documents.

“The national guard got called in this week to help,” said Alicia Sanchez, president of a bilingual radio station that tailors its broadcasts to farm workers and has been fielding calls from terrified listeners. “They are standing in front of the shelters in green uniforms and they have rifles. The Mexican people started calling us and saying, ‘Migration is here,’ and we say, ‘No, no, no.’”

Sanchez said the station was encouraging listeners to make use of shelters but its headquarters had also turned into a gathering place. “They feel safe here,” she said.

Bucklin said he would like to harvest the 15% to 20% of his grapes that remain on the vine, but he was not going to make demands of the harvest crew amid the emergency. Even if people wanted to get to work, road closures, evacuation orders and the fires that continue make accessing the fields impossible for most.

Wine connoisseurs warn that grapes that remain on the vine will suffer from “smoke taint”, an ashy taste. But Bucklin is something of an iconoclast. He doesn’t irrigate his plants, and said he “liked the idea of a little smoke taint” as a sort of memorial to this year.

“We’re going to remember this vintage for a long time,” he said.

Play Video 1:38 Bodycam footage shows woman's rescue from California wildfire - video

Rene Byck, co-owner of the Paradise Ridge Winery that lost its tasting room, most of its facilities and about 11,000 cases of wine, said he believed farm workers would be able to find work relatively easily once the recovery gets under way.

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More concerning was the housing farm workers rely on. The city of Santa Rosa, where entire neighborhoods were leveled, lost about 5%. Homeowners will have the backing of insurance companies to rebuild. Renters and poor people will not.

“Our event coordinator lost her house and we’re not going to be doing events at the winery for some time,” Byck said. Insurance would cover some employees’ costs, he said, “but I don’t know for how long.”

On Thursday morning, Pierre and Nathalie Birebent caught rides with reporters up to Signorello Estate, a family owned winery in Napa where Pierre is winemaker and vineyard manager and Nathalie works in the tasting room.

Pierre, a sixth-generation winemaker from Corsica, battled the flames last Sunday night alongside two employees, but the winery’s main structure fell. As the wreckage of her workplace came into view, Nathalie cried.

“It is one thing to see the pictures …” she said, trailing off into silence.

Pierre, who a few weeks ago celebrated his 20th harvest with Signorello, was confident the estate would recover. Owner Ray Signorello had committed to rebuilding and was in the process of renting a temporary office in Napa.

The skies were blue and the air seemed almost clear for the first time all week. The tasting room was leveled but the wicker furniture on its patio was untouched. Trees on the hillside were scorched but a shrine to the Virgin Mary erected by Catholic workers had been spared.

A few hours later, the winds began to shift and the plume of smoke over the mountains dividing Napa from Sonoma began to darken and grow. Helicopters and planes could be seen flying low over the peaks. The haze thickened and the view was gone.

“It doesn’t stop, it’s not going to end,” said Nathalie Birebent. “An earthquake is better. It’s bad, but then it’s over.”

• This article was amended on 16 October 2017. An earlier version referred to Santa Clara when Santa Rosa was meant.

