A winery worker is facing criminal charges over the 2025 wildfire that tore through parts of Napa Valley and led to an estimated $56 million in winegrape losses.
The Napa County District Attorney’s Office said charges were filed Thursday against Juan Luis Gutierrez Marfil, 45, of Napa, who is accused of igniting the Pickett Fire.
Marfil, who performed work for Hundred Acre Winery, has been charged with a felony count of recklessly causing a fire to a structure or forest, prosecutors said. He also faces a special allegation tied to losses exceeding $6 million.
According to the criminal complaint, Marfil “admitted to Cal Fire Law Enforcement of the disposing of hot ashes into a burn pile, which caused the Pickett Fire,” the Press Democrat reported.
The blaze hit wineries and growers across the region hard, with many crops rendered unusable by smoke taint, a condition in which wildfire smoke seeps into grapes and damages the fruit.
Napa County has estimated winegrape losses from the fire at $56 million, not including an additional $1.7 million in damage involving other agricultural products and structures.
A preliminary county assessment found that more than 3% of Napa Valley farmland was damaged, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
A spokesperson for Hundred Acre Winery, owned by Jayson Woodbridge, said Marfil was not an employee of the winery but had been contracted to perform work for the business.
Marfil is accused of starting the blaze on August 21, 2025, on the 2300 block of Pickett Road in north Calistoga. It led to evacuations, destroyed a home and several buildings, burning more than 6,800 acres.
Gusty winds combined with triple-digit temperatures caused the flames to quickly spread through the hillsides and canyons.
More than 2,000 emergency personnel responded to the blaze that lasted 17 days before it was finally out.
Earlier this month, a handful of wine growers sued Woodbridge and his winery over millions of dollars in crop losses, alleging the fire began on property owned by Woodbridge and Hundred Acre Winery.
Sam Singer, spokesman for Hundred Acre Wines, said “The Napa County Deputy DA has investigated the Pickett Fire and found no basis to file a criminal case against the Hundred Acre affiliates that own and operate the Pickett Road property.”
“We agree with that assessment and are pleased we have been cleared by the DA’s office.”
Marfil is due back in court for an arraignment hearing on September 9.
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