Napa Valley prosecutors on Thursday filed criminal charges in the Pickett Fire investigation, siding with published reports that a worker had caused the blaze that burned 6,800 acres a year ago.
But the financial ramifications from the fire, which started at Hundred Acre Winery in Calistoga and destroyed the grape crop of dozens of wineries and substantially burned one vineyard, remain uncertain.
Juan Luis Gutierrez Marfil, who a Hundred Acre spokesman said was employed as an independent contractor, faces one felony charge of recklessly causing a fire of a structure and forest. According to the charging documents, Marfil “admitted to Cal Fire Law Enforcement of the disposing of hot ashes into a burn pile, which caused the Pickett Fire.”…