Fire contained in the vicinity of 3600 Bloomfield

[Shepherd]

Some of you may have noticed smoke around the Bloomfield Rd. area. I just spoke by phone with a neighbor who lives across the street in the 3600 block area of Bloomfield. The fire has been contained. It seems to have been started by tractors on a new vineyard across the street from where my friend lives. She described red flames and that it was scary. The trees along the road burned, but it did not reach across the road. She appreciated the Hessel firefighters for their promptness and skill at putting it out.

Welcome to what could become the new normal as human-caused climate change contributes to the making of droughts and can contribute to the rash of fires that we are now experiencing on the North Coast. Friends in Lake County report that the big fire there reached close to their homes.

Since vineyards and wineries do not need to conserve water, as the rest of us do, this is another good reason for working against their overdevelopment, in my opinion. Instead, we are experiencing a Grape Rush here in Sonoma County with many new applications for vineyards and wineries in rural areas as event centers.