I’ve been to Napa Valley a couple of times, mostly up and down that road where many well known wineries are located. I saw an interview with a lady from a winery family who said the vineyards themselves had not been damaged much, and had actually served as firebreaks and saved many areas from the fires
And this time of year lawns should still be green and mowed, and landscaping done around homes. What is there about the setting of so many homes that allowed the fires to just sweep right in and set the homes afire? Are many surrounded by dry woods?
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Wine-Country-fires-first-fatal-hours-12278092.php
This article may help to answer your questions. I wouldn’t have believed a fire like this were even possible. It’s a long but an excellent piece with anecdotal examples of various people’s experience that night.
This is incomprehensible- at one point the fire was estimated to be moving at over 200 feet per second.
I believe it wasn’t so much the fire sweeping through the neighborhoods as burning embers falling from the sky setting all the neighborhoods alight at once. Then, when the fires are burning hot enough, the heat / radiation from one building can actually set the adjacent building afire. The heat through a closed window will cause drapes in the house to catch fire.
Also, these were mature neighborhoods with tall trees, often resinous pine trees and cedars that catch fire easily.