Nick Triglia heard an explosion and noticed a hot, electrical smell in the air before he saw the orange glow near Highway 128 that signaled a fire about to bear down on his Knights Valley home after midnight Tuesday.
He and his wife, Holly, got out fast, along with the dog they'd adopted hours earlier. And for a time, they could only watch and wait for volunteer fire crews to come to their rescue.
"It was just her and I watching this incredible fire - like these big oaks - going straight for our house," Triglia, a Calistoga letter carrier, said. "I wouldn't have given you 10 cents for the house at that point. I thought it was gone."
In all, at least 300 fire personnel were called into service on wildland fires in Sonoma and Napa counties Wednesday at the start of what officials predict will be an especially bad fire season.
On what would be a busy morning for fire crews around the North Bay, brought on by high winds and hot, dry conditions, the home the Triglias have rented for 19 years northwest of town did survive, if barely.
Half of it was gutted by flames that erupted around 1:20 a.m., apparently when a wind-blown tree brought down power lines and blew up a transformer at the edge of the highway, about 100 yards from the house.
The remainder of the house had significant smoke damage, though it can be rebuilt, thanks to the efforts of the Mountain Volunteer Fire force, Triglia said.
According to what one firefighter told him, another five minutes and the house would have been ashes, Triglia said.
"I'd be looking at complete rubble, and we're not," he said. "The house can be repaired. We lost a few things that are valuable to us, but the bottom line is we're happy to be here and alive and well."
Despite weather conditions that prompted a red flag warning for high fire danger, firefighters kept the flames to about 150 square feet around the Triglias' house.
But just down the highway, about 240 firefighters were battling another blaze sparked at 2 a.m. The Yellow fire had charred at least 125 acres near Highway 128 and Yellow Jacket Ranch Road. Cal Fire officials estimated it would be contained around 6 p.m. today.
On the other side of Calistoga, a 2?-acre fire closed Schramsberg Vineyards for the day after a power line sparked flames on winery property off Highway 29 near Bothe-Napa State Park.
The fire broke out around 5:30 a.m. in heavy timber and brush off Schramsberg Road, where rugged terrain made access difficult for dozens of fire personnel, Cal Fire said.
The grapes and winery buildings were spared, winery owner Hugh Davies said by phone from Chicago. "Obviously, we're thankful for that," he said.
The fire was contained by 6p.m. Wednesday, Cal Fire said.
Fire officials also reached full containment of a wildfire outside of Yountville, at Silverado Trail and the Oakville Road crossing, where one structure was destroyed and about 75 acres were scorched by flames that started burning shortly before midnight Tuesday, Cal Fire said.
Another fire broke out in Napa County at 6:40 p.m. Wednesday on the 1300 block of Soda Canyon. As of about 9p.m. Wednesday the fire had burned about 15 acres of grassy oak and eucalyptus woodlands and destroyed a vacant trailer.
A dry spring means the earth is parched and highly combustible, as demonstrated when winds battered power lines around the area overnight Tuesday and Wednesday morning.
Resulting fires included one on Chalk Hill Road east of Healdsburg, where live power lines fell across the road early Wednesday.
Numerous power failures were reported across Sonoma County, including one that cut power to about 3,500 customers in the Rincon Valley area of Santa Rosa before dawn Wednesday.
Davies said he understood power lines were to blame for the blaze near his winery.
In light of the wildfires Wednesday, Davies said, "Hopefully this isn't a harbinger of things to come for the rest of the summer, but it's been pretty dry."
You can reach Staff Writer
Mary Callahan at 521-5249 or mary.callahan
@pressdemocrat.com.
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