VIDEO: A Calistoga vintner has voluntarily handed CAL FIRE what may be a major clue to finding the true origin of the Pickett Fire. That fire started near Calistoga on August 21st and ultimately consumed 6,800 acres. The evidence appears to be strong and intact. But is it the cause? In a somewhat unusual act, a company known as Hundred Acre Wine has volunteered information to Cal Fire’s investigators, by e-mail, about a trailer on its vineyard which may be the ignition source of the 6,800 acre Pickett Fire. I was permitted to see the e-mail and a picture of the trailer but did not have permission to show it.
The company hired veteran spokesman Sam Singer to handle media inquiries. “What we’re trying to do is to be a good neighbor, to work with CAL FIRE, to be a responsible neighbor and to provide information to investigators so they can determine what really happened,” said Singer. Specifically, Hundred Acre Wine wants CAL FIRE to look at a partially burned battery inside the trailer which survived the fire. Pictures taken Friday evening from SkyFOX, show the area and a trailer which appears to match the e-mail picture we saw. KTVU has yet to determine from CAL FIRE if they got the letter which was addressed to Captain Zack Lunsford at CAL FIRE’s St. Helena North Bay Headquarters.
