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Jewish summer camp destroyed in California wildfires

Kosher vineyard also suffers serious damage in fires that have left at least 17 people dead

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A Reform Jewish summer camp site and a kosher vineyard have suffered serious damage after raging wildfires left a trail of destruction across northern California.

The Union for Reform Judaism’s Camp Newman, an hour north of the San Francisco Bay, has been “mostly destroyed” by the fires burning in the Sonoma and Napa Counties

The Camp was not in session, and everyone living at the campsite — along with its Torah scrolls — was rescued before the fires took hold.

A message on the camp’s Facebook page read: “As many of you may have heard, since 10pm last night, forest fires have been burning in Sonoma and Napa counties.

“It is with tremendous shock and sadness that we share that the majority of the buildings at our beloved Camp Newman home have been destroyed.”

The camp moved to its current location in 1997 and it serves 1400 children each year.

Kosher wine producer Hagafen Cellars, in Napa Valley, sustained serious damage in the blazes, which have left at least 17 people dead and more than 100 missing across California.

Hagafen owner Ernie Weir said he is was uncertain about the full extent of the damage to his site.

“We did lose about an acre,” he told Forward, “and we lost our guest house, all of our agricultural equipment, and we lost the chicken house, and the chickens, a lot of things that were on the rear perimeter of our property. They are burned in some cases beyond recognition. It was devastating.”

Around two thousand buildings were burnt to the ground across the region with an estimated 79,000 acres catching fire.

Hot and dry winds fanned at least 17 blazes across north California and also forced 20,000 people to flee from Napa, Yuba and Sonoma along with other areas close to San Francisco.

Around 12 per cent of California’s wine grapes are grown in the region.

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