NAPA VALLEY, CA — Napa Valley Vintners announced an $85,000 grant Tuesday to expand a wildfire preparedness program that maps private water sources, emergency roads, fuel breaks, and other resources for firefighters responding to fires across Napa County.
The grant will fund the second year of the Napa Communities Firewise Foundation's Valley Stewards Initiative. NVV invested $100,000 in the initiative in 2025, according to a press release.
The initiative addresses two gaps in Napa County's wildfire preparations: resilience work that exists but does not appear in firefighters' operational systems, and strategically important properties where landowners lack the money to complete fuel-reduction work.
Napa Firewise conducts field assessments and maps private lands, including vineyards, that contain water sources, emergency access roads, fuel breaks, staging areas, turnarounds, and other resources firefighters could use during wildfires.
Napa Firewise verifies the information and adds it to CAL FIRE's command system for planning and emergency response. Much of that information previously was not visible to firefighters.
"Being prepared for wildfires depends on knowing what resources exist across the landscape and being able to put that information in the hands of firefighters when they need it," Napa Communities Firewise Foundation CEO Joe Nordlinger said in the press release.
Nearly 200 landowners representing about 37,000 acres have participated. Sixty-four properties have been integrated into the system, with 100 expected by the end of 2026 and more than 350 anticipated during the initiative's first three years.
The initiative also funds fuel-reduction work on strategically important properties where landowners cannot afford the work. Napa Firewise has identified more than 12 priority projects that are being scoped for 2027.
Napa Firewise also worked with CAL FIRE and the Napa County Fire Department to develop an Enhanced Resilience Site designation for critical properties with resilience features firefighters can use to help contain and extinguish wildfires.
The foundation aims to establish 100 Enhanced Resilience Sites over the next decade, supported by a $22.5 million philanthropic goal. Eighteen sites have been integrated, 148 property owners are in the process, and $3.9 million has been pledged.
The latest grant brings NVV's direct contributions to Napa County wildfire preparedness to $2.1 million.
"NVV understood early on that mitigation work requires sustained investment, not a one-time response," Nordlinger said in the press release.
NVV made wildfire prevention and preparedness a priority after the 2020 wildfires.
The trade association advocated for additional government resources at the county, state, and federal levels, and its advocacy and endorsement of grant applications helped secure more than $25 million for fire resiliency in Napa Valley, according to the press release.
Napa Valley Vintners is a nonprofit trade association with nearly 530 members.
Founded in 1944, the organization has invested more than $245 million in community healthcare, youth development, and the environment in Napa County.
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