"It was a hell-storm of smoke and ash"

We are 60 miles south of Novato, the closest of the fires, yet we could smell the smoke. Friends in San Francisco said that ash was falling on their house.

Unlike previous fires that have struck unpopulated areas, these have spread through wine country and North Bay cities.

A swarm of fires supercharged by powerful winds ripped through Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino counties Monday, killing at least 10 people, injuring dozens of others, destroying more than 1,500 homes and businesses, and turning prominent wineries to ash.

Starting in the middle of the night, the fires hopscotched across neighborhoods, raced across fields and jumped freeways. Wind gusts up to 70 mph pushed walls of flames nearly 100 feet high, throwing embers ahead like hot fingers into strip malls and subdivisions. Many people who fled the surge had enough time to grab car keys, perhaps a pet, but not much more.

Winery building in Napa County (Chronicle photo)

And it's far from over.

Today the only thing we could do was head to Costco to stock up on wine. Wineries have been destroyed, thereby reducing both inventories and production capacity for years.

After the situation is contained, we'll look at ways we can assist the recovery.