April 2, 2026
Napa, CA— The County of Napa knows wildfire. Our hillsides carry the scars of the Nuns, Atlas, Tubbs, LNU Lightning Complex, and Glass fires. Residents here don’t need to be convinced that wildfire is a real and present threat — they know what it looks like when the sky turns orange and the hills are burning in three directions at once. That history drives everything Napa Communities Firewise Foundation does.
Through Napa Valley Can Do’s 2025 Give Guide, Napa Firewise raised enough through individual gifts, organization sponsorships, and Fire Safe Council fundraising to install 14 Beacon Boxes at fire-critical locations spanning every battalion unit in Napa County — from Calistoga’s Oat Hill Mine Trail and Diamond Mountain in the north, to Skyline Park, Circle Oaks, and Berryessa Estates to the south and east. Combined with boxes already in place across the county, the network now totals 24 locations — ensuring every battalion unit has access to this resource.
Developed by Flamemapper, each Beacon Box is a weather-hardened field information station pre-positioned with detailed local mapping — roads, water sources, and community layouts — that give any crew, especially those arriving from outside the county, the critical knowledge they need to protect lives and property from the moment they arrive on scene. Sites are selected by Napa County fire authority for their operational value, many of them historic staging areas from previous wildfires, now permanently equipped for the next one. In wind-driven events, ember cast can ignite spot fires miles ahead of the main front, and mutual aid crews may arrive first on scene without the local knowledge Napa’s own firefighters have spent careers building. The Beacon Box bridges that gap.
“When a wind-driven fire runs in Napa County, we’re going to need to call for mutual aid — and those crews are going to arrive ready to work,” said Mike Wilson, Napa Firewise’s Land Resilience Director and retired CAL FIRE firefighter. “What they won’t have is years of familiarity with our roads, our water sources, our communities. The Beacon Box puts that knowledge in their hands immediately. This is exactly the kind of pre-positioned resource that aligns with how we think about operational readiness.”
Two community sponsors made specific installations possible. Adventist Health St. Helena funded the Deer Park Beacon Box — a location with significant fire history, complex terrain, and a high concentration of homes.
“Our commitment to this community extends well beyond our walls,” said Dr. Steven Herber, President, Adventist Health St. Helena. “We’ve lived through evacuations alongside this community. Investing in tools that help protect Deer Park means investing in the people we are here to serve.”
Circle Oaks County Water District supported the Circle Oaks installation, investing directly in the safety of the community they serve every day. Together, these partners reflect the kind of locally rooted commitment that makes this work possible.
The Spring Mountain Fire Safe Council is currently installing eight boxes across their 11,151-acre fire safe council area, and boxes are already in place at Hennessey Rector and Diamond Mountain. This campaign builds on that momentum, adding 14 more locations countywide.
Beacon Boxes are one layer in a larger system Napa Firewise is building across the county and with our partners. These boxes compliment the thousands of acres stewarded through land resilience projects, the hundreds of residents receiving support for defensible space improvements, and the sustained community education work of Napa’s Fire Safe Councils. Wildfire resilience isn’t one-size-fits-all. It’s built in layers, by a community that keeps showing up.
To make a gift or connect with your local Fire Safe Council, visit napafirewise.org.
About Napa Communities Firewise Foundation
The Napa Communities Firewise Foundation (Napa Firewise) is a countywide nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to strengthening wildfire resilience across Napa County through land stewardship, strategic fuel management, and community preparedness. Napa Firewise works with residents, landowners, fire agencies, and partners to reduce wildfire risk, improve forest and ecosystem health, and support fire-adapted communities. Learn more at https://napafirewise.org.
Media Contact:
Stephanie Smithers
Marketing & Communications Manager, Napa Communities Firewise Foundation
stephanie@napafirewise.org | 909-786-9208