By Sue Fishkoff/(J. The Jewish News of Northern California via JTA) – A kosher winery in Northern California sustained widespread damage from a wildfire raging along the southern part of the Silverado Trail in Napa County. Ernie Weir, owner of Hagafen Cellars, the North Bay’s only kosher winery, said Wednesday that all employees are safe and the main winery building is intact, but that the fire destroyed fencing, all of the agricultural equipment, a guest house, nearly an acre of Cabernet Sauvignon vines and all of the property’s trees. “What this all will mean for vintage 2017 is yet to be determined,” he wrote in an email. Weir said he is “reasonably certain” that the winery, which was founded in 1979, will be able to recover from the destruction “and continue” in business.

At press time, as wildfires continue to rip through the North Bay Area, the Jewish community is reaching out to help those most affected by the devastation – including Jewish families who have been evacuated, some of whom have lost their homes.

Rabbi Mendel Wolvovsky of Chabad of Sonoma – the brother of Rabbi Yosef Wolvovsky, director of the Chabad Jewish Center in Glastonbury – has been fielding calls from members of his community and with his wife, Altie, has been visiting those affected. They are making the rounds of nearby shelters that are housing people displaced by the blaze and handing out home-cooked meals. “There are people in our community who have lost their homes, who have lost everything they have,” he told J. “We have been visiting with them, comforting them, seeing what they need, making sure everyone has proper housing. A lot of Jews live in the Fountaingrove neighborhood. ” Fountaingrove is an area of Santa Rosa that has been heavily damaged.

Congregation Beth Ami in Santa Rosa held a healing service on Sukkot in the synagogue. Four member families have lost their homes in the fires, according to an email sent to the community. The B’nai Israel Jewish Center in Petaluma held a joint Simchat Torah celebration with Congregation Ner Shalom of Cotati. In an email sent to the general community, Rabbi Ted Feldman of B’nai Israel noted that several Ner Shalom families have taken shelter in the B’nai Israel building, not knowing whether their homes are still standing.

The Jewish institution most affected so far by the wildfires was the Reform movement’s Camp Newman in Santa Rosa, where most of the buildings were reported destroyed on Oct. 9. Two days later, the staff tried again to reach the property and assess the damage. However, said communications director Alaina Yoakum, “We couldn’t get within five miles of the property. The fires are still very active, and the roads are blocked.”