Cal Fire investigators probing the nearly 7,000-acre Pickett fire in Calistoga have interviewed a contractor and a manager of a vineyard where the fire is believed to have started, NBC Bay Area’s Investigative Unit has learned, and investigators are looking into whether improperly discarded ashes may have sparked the fire.
Sources with knowledge of the case say investigators suspect a contract worker at the winery had taken the ashes out of what the worker believed was a safely cooled oven and put them on a pile of flammable material.
A contractor working for Hundred Acre Wines – created by winemaker Jayson Woodbridge and his wife Helen– as well as a vineyard manager, gave statements to fire investigators Tuesday, according to Sam Singer, spokesman for the LLC that owns the vineyard…