Few places have been more thoroughly battered by the force of climate change and Mother Nature than Big Sur.
Epic rains triggered landslides that closed Highway 1 into the famed coastal enclave for three years.
It reopened to much celebration in January. But a 10-mile stretch of Highway 1 is again closed because of a fast-moving fire threatening local landmarks, leaving Big Sur residents both on edge and frustrated.
“We are really in a recovery year, going from surviving to thriving, so it’s a bit of a kick in the teeth when you hit this kind of hiccup,” said Kirk Gafill, who owns the popular Nepenthe restaurant on the picturesque coastal road.
The fire comes as Big Sur is trying to recover from the economic losses of being cut off for so long.
Locals were anticipating the busiest summer in years. Restaurants were packed with diners and hotels were fully booked with tourists looking to soak in the region’s misty redwood forests and dramatic ocean views.
Then, the Timber fire exploded. It started over the weekend in the Los Padres National Forest near Loma Vista and has charred more than 3,700 acres as of Wednesday, threatening homes and businesses.
Big Sur has faced a relentless cycle of natural disasters over the past decade including destructive wildfires, mudflows, rockslides and coastal erosion that threatens its steep and fragile landscape and has isolated the iconic destination.
In the summer of 2016, the Soberanes fire burned more than 130,000 acres north of Big Sur, destroying dozens of homes and forcing evacuations. In 2017, heavy rains caused consecutive disasters with the collapse of the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge and a major landslide near Mud Creek that left residents cut off for months as the California Department of Transportation made repairs.
Most recently, a series of atmospheric river storms in January 2023 triggered a major landslide that initiated a nearly three-year closureof Highway 1. Repairs were delayed by additional slides in the years that followed.
For those who make a living in tourism, the Timber fire marks nature’s latest blow to the beloved, yet often plagued, coastal locale.
“You really have to fight to be here,” said Melissa Morris, a third-generation Big Surian. “You have to be able to kind of withstand all of the things that happen.”
On Sunday evening, Gafill watched from Nepenthe’s front deck as the fire burned over the ridge line across Highway 1, flames licking down gullies and ravines as it consumed all the lush fuel in its path. The trees went up like roman candles, he said.
“It was quite dramatic,” he said.
More than 900 firefighters, 36 engines, six water tenders, seven dozers, 26 hand crews and six helicopters are assigned to the blaze. Authorities are still investigating what sparked the fire, which was only 5% contained as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Early Wednesday, fire crews prioritized protecting structures as the inferno charged toward Highway 1. On the north and west sides of the blaze, bulldozers and ground crews built defensive lines to impede the fire’s spread. The east side of the fire — located in dense wilderness — is most active and firefighters are trying to find safe ways to get it under control, officials said.
While more than 500 structures are threatened by the fire, none have been damaged or destroyed.
Many residents’ view of the blaze in recent days has been obstructed by the marine layer, which has provided some much-needed moisture for fire crews. Still, at higher elevations, the humidity is much lower and the winds are more pronounced, conditions that can bedevil firefighters.
On Wednesday, locals were hoping that thunderstorms in the forecast would help firefighters’ efforts. While moisture is beneficial during a fire, lightning strikes on dry brush can trigger spot fires that pull resources away from the larger blaze.
While Gafill is hopeful that the fire won’t get close to his restaurant, which has been in his family for decades, he’s grappling with a loss of thousands of dollars for each day he’s closed.
“We live in paradise,” he said. “I mean, we live in one of the most extraordinary parts of the world and fire is one of the realities of being here, but it’s not easy.”
And it’s not just people who have dealt with fallout from the fire.
Two California condors recovering from lead poisoning were briefly stranded this week after the fire engulfed the road to the Ventana Wildlife Society’s Discovery Center where they were recuperating. But a Cal Fire firefighter stepped in on Tuesday, escorting a staff member to the property so she could release the critically endangered birds back into the wild.
“This is condor conservation as a team effort, and we are grateful beyond words,” the society wrote in a Facebook post, alongside a video of the birds taking flight.
Families who have lived in Big Sur for generations have come to expect their share of curveballs, particularly as climate change has accelerated rapid swings between intensely wet and dangerously dry weather. But it comes at a time when the small community is also dealing with a lack of affordable housing, limited traffic capacity and years of diminished tourism.
“What’s difficult for the folks in Big Sur, I think today, are the changing dynamics that people are experiencing all over California that are magnified here,” said Supervisor Kate Daniels, who represents the region.
“People who successfully live in Big Sur can handle these crises. It’s when they’re compounded with other things that it becomes exceedingly difficult,” she said.
When evacuation warnings started rolling in on Monday, Morris, who manages Glen Oaks Big Sur, spent the day explaining the situation to guests at the property and those who had reservations in the coming days. Some visitors left immediately, but others who had one more day left of their vacations opted to stay until Tuesday morning, she said.
The boutique resort, nestled among the soaring redwood trees near the Big Sur River on Highway 1, was completely booked. Summer is generally the region’s busiest season, but the demand has seemed even higher this year following the lengthy Highway 1 closure.
Now cancellations are rolling in, Morris said.
“It’s not just for today, tomorrow and the weekend, but next week and the week after because people are hearing about the fire and they don’t know how long it’s going to last,” she said.
“This is definitely going to hurt.”
The post Relentless cycle of disaster has Big Sur in crisis again: ‘You really have to fight to be here’ appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
