July 9th Palo Colorado Fire Meeting Summary July 10, 2008

July 9th Palo Colorado Fire Meeting Summary

We continue to be under and Evacuation Advisory.

From Palo Colorado to Lucia there is a soft close on the road and an Evacuation Advisory. Residents and workers with passes may enter this zone. Buildings and businesses are being inspected and we will soon hear when businesses plan to re-open to the public. They must first get road clearance, and because of fire equipment along the road and the potential for spot fires, we will have to wait a few more days at the least.

Today we woke to blue skies in Palo Colorado Canyon. The smoke that was lingering so heavily yesterday had cleared out, which made it possible for fire fighters to work more extensively and allowed for the use of air support. I was told that they were flying S2’s, C-130’s, MAFS (Modular Airborne Flying System), and the DC-10.

Fire crews worked to finish back burning on the North East containment lines. Crews back burned up to the summit of Devil’s Peak. While the plan is to back burn the entire perimeter of the fire along the dozer lines, the North flank of the fire is coming quite close to dozer lines that have not yet been back burned. It is expected that the fire will burn from Little Pines up to Big Pines either tonight or tomorrow. This means that the fire will be coming relatively close to parts of Carmel Valley and Cachagua. Therefore, crews may need to go direct on this section of the fire tonight or tomorrow.

While there is a possibility that the fire could jump the line near Big Pines, fire crews will try to hold the line there by going direct. If the fire were to spread, it could come around the containment lines to Palo Colorado’s North and hit us from the outside. Even if this were to occur, however, the fire would still be days away from us, as it would be advancing slowly.

Tonight could be an eventful night for this section of the fire. Fire fighters have noticed a pattern of fire activity particular to our location. As the marine layer comes in at night, it brings in humidity which reduces fire activity. However, between 1:00 and 3:00 am the this layer goes back out and humidity drops, resulting in faster burning and more fire activity.

We will need to wait and see what happens tonight, and will then know more about what to expect from the fire in coming days. Crews continue to work on contingency containment lines that go from White Rock into Garrapata Creek and just near the Devon Ranch. They could run dozers near Mt. Carmel.

Big Sur Valley looks to be in good shape. South of Big Sur Valley fire crews are working on back burning, but high humidity has kept the back burns from firing well.

Here is the latest weather report, courtesy of NOAA.

Overnight: Mostly cloudy, with a steady temperature around 66. Light northeast wind.

Thursday: Partly sunny, with a high near 84. Calm wind becoming west southwest between 5 and 8 mph.

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 63. West southwest wind between 5 and 8 mph becoming calm.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 79. Southwest wind between 6 and 8 mph.

Friday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 59. West southwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming south southeast.

Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 80.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 57.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 75.

Sunday Night: Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 54.

Monday: Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 71.

Monday Night: Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 52.

Tuesday: Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, mostly sunny, with a high near 72.

We were updated on the condition of the firefighter who was badly hurt while hiking during fire operation. She was part of the BLM Alaska Fire Service, and a Chena Hot Shot. We were encouraged to send cards and letters of support.

We were told that from 9:00 pm to 1:00 am the FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) flies looking for hot spots.

We were told that the Mid Coast Fire Brigade needs funds. A fund raiser is being set up by Mary Verigee, Rachel Muehler, and Pam Peck that will take place in mid November, around Thanksgiving.

One way to support the Mid-Coast Fire Brigade is by buying a t-shirt that will soon be available. The fire department needs people to answer the phones at least though Sunday. (I will be there tomorrow!)

Also, checks can be sent to:
Mid-Coast Fire Brigade
Palo Colorado
Carmel, CA 93923
Donations are 501C3 tax deductible.

We were told that the county crew that has been clearing the road has worked their way from Bottcher’s Gap to the Hoist. They will continue to HWY 1. There are only 4 guys clearing, which is the entire crew for the county of Monterey. They have been coming in early and staying late. As they are working on the road, residents should leave themselves extra time coming and going on the road.

We were also reminded of the Labor Day Picnic. Hopefully it will be a time for us to all come back together and celebrate making it through the fire safely.

Phil Yenovkian of the Office of Emergency Services (OES) came back to the meeting tonight with good news. After meeting with others at the OES, he thinks that he will be able to help us with some of our tree and brush issues. OES is not allowed to come onto private land, however, OES is working out a plan to dispose of tree limbs and brush if we can bring it to Palo Colorado’s main road. There will be designated days and designated drop off points. He will be able to bring in 3 or 4 chippers to help us. He said that he really wants to help us, and that at this point he is not saying no to anything, and will look into the feasibility of all requests.

We were told that Jerri has been working on the neighborhood maps and they are looking good. She wants to remind us that they are completely confidential and are only for the use of the Mid-Coast Fire Brigade. The maps will be labeled with everyone’s house number or name in the absence of a number. Then there will be a corresponding sheet which lists everyone on the property and where water and propane tanks are.

We were reminded to leave our gates open of to purchase a KNOX Lock. This is a system that works like a regular gate lock, but that has a universal key only held by fire departments. The key can not be duplicated and is kept inside to the fire truck to be used only for emergency purposes.

Lastly, this is a new website I just found. It does not have totally new information, but it is very official, and it always helps to read the same information put a different way. It is the “Daily Situation Report” from the Southern California Geographic Area Coordination Center Intelligence:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/fire/south/fwx/operations/osc-archive/sitreport.html

I hope everyone is doing well. I look forward to the Labor Day Picnic celebration.

July 8th, 2008 Palo Colorado Fire Meeting Summary July 9, 2008

July 8th, 2008 Palo Colorado Fire Meeting Summary

Today was a smoky, smoky day. We all experienced this at home, and it was a tactical challenge for our fire fighters. Cheryl told us that in the field, it was hard to see two feet in front of you.

In addition to smoke, the fire fighters were hit with heat, with the temperatures hitting 100 degrees on the field.

We were told that the fire fighters who were struck with heat stroke are now okay, but that three more fire fighters had to be taken off of the field for various reasons. The heat on the line is intense, and fire fighters are also coming into contact with a lot of poison oak and having reactions, as well as with insects such as bees.

We were told of a fire fighter who had come in from Colorado to help us. During an operation, she was hiking and suffered injuries related to a pre-existing muscular illness. She was taken back home and needed serious surgery.  They hope to save her legs, but are not sure that she will walk again, let alone be able to return to the field. We will be updated on her condition tonight, and will receive an address to send cards.

Because of the thick smoke, aircraft support could not be utilized until 3:30, when some of the smoke began to clear.

While the smoke delayed and hampered some operations, the fire fighters will still able to do good work, and continued tying in Little Sur. After 3:00 they were able to start backfiring up on Skinner, and tonight (July 8th) they plan to work up to the top of Devil’s Peak.

They worked Skinner Ridge to Bottcher’s Gap and while the fire made some runs, fire fighters were able to hold the line. We were told that when they say the fire “bumped the line” it means that it burned right up to containment lines.

At times of low visibility, it is hard to see headers popping up, and hard to get a grasp on the nature of the fire  inside of containment lines until the smoke has cleared.

They utilized the FLIR which stands for Forward Looking Infrared Radar to detect hot spots and thermal activity. (I just found this: http://www.iecinfrared.com/glossary.html)

We were told that the NE flank of the fire continues to steadily move, but at this point is not a threat to us. At the South flank of the fire they continue to create containment lines and we hear that it is looking good.

Fire fighters feel confident that they can hold the lines that they have built, and as the smoke continues to clear, they will be able to put more fire on the ground and fortify dozer lines.

We were told that some of the black lines are beginning to get cold, which means that they should hold up very well. DP 44-46 seems quite cold. The firing line from two days ago looks good, and the burn on Bixby Mountain looks very good.

We continue to have a red flag warning for fire conditions. We were reminded that while this means that the fire burns faster, this can prove helpful in getting a good back burn. Slight winds can clear smoke out of the canyon, allowing fire fighters to have better visibility and the ability to utilize air support. A high ignition component can be dangerous in a general sense as it means that fires light easily, but it also means that back burns will light well. Yesterday the ignition component was a record of 95, which means that if you drop 100 matches into dry grass, 95 of them would start a fire.

Here is the weather report  as of 10:30 pm last night courtesy of NOAA and Fred along with instructions of how to track the weather on NOAA yourself to get up to the minute info:

Overnight: Areas of smoke. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. West southwest wind around 10 mph.

Wednesday: Areas of smoke before 11am. Partly sunny, with a high near 90. Southwest wind 10 to 14 mph becoming north northwest.

Wednesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 77. North wind between 7 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Thursday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 86. North wind between 6 and 8 mph.

Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 74. North northwest wind around 8 mph.

Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 80.

To track the weather yourself:

1. Go to http://www.wrh.noaa.gov
2. Type in “Carmel, ca”
3. Pick “Carmel by the sea”
4. Click around about 10 miles south and inland
5. When you get one you like (firehouse is about 900 ft elevation), you can save the URL so that you don’t  have to do all of the steps next time.

We were visited by a representative from OES, the Office of Emergency Services. His name is Phil Yenovkian and he provided us with his office and cell phone numbers (see bottom). He will be at our meetings every night and wants to know what they can do to support us. While much of this operation is under the control of Forest Services, there are many ways in which OES can help us. He is looking into getting us equipment such as chippers to aid in the clearing of roads, but he is not sure of the legality of this since most of the roads are private. He will see if this can be superceded by the fact that this is an emergency situation.

We were told that a county crew is working on the main road doing vertical and horizontal clearance, from HWY 1 to Bottchers Gap.

Three reminders: Please contact Mike Caplin (see bottom for his number) about ordering Phos-Chek.

Please think about what you can do to help to clear Greenridge today. Perhaps we can start with Greenridge as a community, and then help to clear other private roads as well.

When this is all over we need to continue to be vigilant with our clearing, and come together to support the fire station.

I know that I am tired and I’m sure you are too. I am trying to think of all of this as a long distance run, and not a sprint.

Cheryl told us today that she is cautiously optimistic. I’ll take that.

DC-10 vs C-130 July 9, 2008

Thanks for correcting me on my miss-labeling of the DC-10 as a C-130! I have corrected it. I am very happy to have people correct me, and I am always happy to have comments! Thanks!

Midnight Flames behind Longridge July 8, 2008

July 6th, 2008

Fire Fighters battled until 4:30 am to control a successful back burn operation on the

Northern flank of the Basin Complex Fire to protect the community of Palo Colorado Canyon.

DC-10 Over Palo Colorado Canyon July 8, 2008

A DC-10 flies over Palo Colorado Canyon as part of a back burning operation on July 6th, 2008. Containment lines are being back burned along the Northern flank of the Basin Complex Fire to protect the community of Palo Colorado Canyon.

July 7th Fire Meeting Summary July 8, 2008

Hello, Palo Colorado! Tonight’s meeting brought good news for Big Sur.

As of 10:00 am July 8th, many of our friends to the South can go home. The evacuation from the mouth of our road to Julia Pfeiffer Burns will be changed from a Mandatory Evacuation to an Evacuation Advisory. In the same area, the hard road closure will become a soft road closure, meaning that residents presenting local ID or Big Sur Passes and emergency personnel are allowed on the road.

There is still a Mandatory Evacuation and hard road close from Julia Pfeiffer Burns to Lucia.

The next community meeting for Big Sur residents will occur at 7:00 pm back in the Multi Agency Facility. Our meetings continue to be held at the Mid Coast Fire Station.

Residents of Big Sur should still be advised that the evacuation could become mandatory if fire activity changes. It is not yet time to bring everything home and start unpacking. There is still fire activity, and if the area is deemed unsafe, the evacuation will become mandatory again. Let’s all hope that doesn’t happen.

I am not sure at this point what businesses and services will be opened or closed. Residents should check the “Notices” section of www.surfire2008.org to see what businesses have posted hours of operation.

We are all advised to be cautious while driving on the roads. Many animals are being displaced due to the fire, and there has been a lot of animal activity on the roads and on properties. With an influx of people back down South, everyone should drive with extreme caution to prevent and accident.

Also, please err on the side of caution when allowing household pets outside. (Personally, I only let my animals out in full sun, and at times of heavy animal activity, only on leash.)

Onto Palo Colorado News

In Palo Colorado, we continue to be under evacuation advisory with a soft close on the road. Emergency workers and residents with Palo Colorado ID’s, Special Permits issued by Cheryl, or any proof of residence such as a utility bill, tax form, rental agreement, etc. may access the road.

If you have a worker coming into Palo Colorado, you may meet them at the mouth of the road and escort them in.

We were told that we will still be under Evacuation Advisory until all dozer lines are in, all lines are back burned, and the winds are with us. Because each of those factors are contingent upon other outlying factors, at this point we can not know when we will be back to normal. For now and at least through the weekend, we must still be ready to evacuate.

Due to the heat and extreme conditions under which our brave women and men are fighting this fire, two fire fighters were effected by heat stroke and needed to be given medical attention. Our thoughts are with them, and we hope to get an update of their conditions tomorrow.

Jake detailed the back burning operation, which continued to go well and according to plan.  Fire fighters worked until 4:30 am. Due to good burning conditions, they were able to get a lot of black on the ground. There were various spot fires, but all were contained.  The fire made runs along (Old) Coast Rd and fire fighters had to fight to keep this under control, which they did.

The did not finish firing today, because the (Old) Coast Rd road gave them so much trouble. They will not put any more fire on the ground until this section of back burning is finished and the weather is with us. They were not able to use aerial support today because of the amount of smoke.

When they are able to begin more back burning, they will finish along Skinner Ridge and Devil’s Peak. At this point, there are two fixed observers with a dozer waiting and watching this part of the open line.

We were given a personalized weather report from Scott.  Beginning Tuesday morning, we are under a Red Flag Warning. This means that there will be extremely low relative humidity, high temperatures, winds, and dry fuels, all of which come together to be a hazardous situation for fire.

Now through Thursday they expect with N/NW winds. A high pressure system will move over the area bringing light, off shore winds, although we may see some gusts. This pressure system is expected to move out Friday or Saturday. They expect very hot temperatures through Friday. There is a 60% chance that on Friday or Saturday winds will shift and come from the South, although these winds are not supposed to be strong.

Scott expressed that it is very unlikely we will have thunderstorms, even though some news programs have had talk of thunderstorms. While they have occurred under these conditions in the past, this is a freak weather occurrence and is not likely.

We are reminded that it is hard to predict our weather and fire activity due to our many microclimates.  The way the fire moves will depend on if it is slope driven or driven by the weather.

Cheryl fielded questions from the community and talked about the contingency plans. A contingency plan continues to be worked out involving White Rock and Wild Cat.  I am not 100% clear on the details of this plan, and will report back tomorrow with specifics.

We were told that they think the fire will burn to containment lines. This means that they expect most of the forest to burn. They plan to defend Tassajara and will spot fire around it in preparation. They feel confident in being able to secure Tassajara.

We were told that when fire lines are made, the fire break cut by the dozer is two blades thick. When the area is back burned, they get it to at least 30 feet, then feed the fire into canyons and further along, getting as much black on the ground as possible, while still controlling the fire.

We were reminded that when all of this is over, we must be vigilant with our property and road clearance, and we must come together to work on the Mid Coast Fire Station. Right now, the Mid Coast Fire Station needs volunteers to answer the phones. Peter and Janie donated payers to the Mid Coast Fire Station. Any help is welcome.

We are reminded that while the back burning operation continues to go well, there are many dead trees and brush in the canyon which would pose a large threat if a fire were to reach the canyon. We are reminded that they hope this does not happen in relation to the Basin Complex Fire, but as we saw in October, a fire could happen in the canyon without warning at any time, and we must be ready.

We were joined by a local who is the Military and Veterans Affairs Commissioner for the 5th District. The 5th district includes Big Sur, Carmel, Carmel Valley, and Monterey. We were told that Dave Potter, the 5th District County Supervisor, is working with the rest of his office and the Coast Property Owners Association to plan for recovery when this is all over. They want to help and support us.

On Saturday there will be a benefit to support the fire relief fund being headed up by the CPOA. The benefit is on Saturday at The Big Sur Gallery in the Barnyard. There will be an auction of paintings and sculptures all created and donated by local Big Sur artists. From 3:00pm until 8:00pm there will be refreshments outside on the patio, weather permitting. The auction (officiated by Magnus of the Henry Miller Library) will begin at 5:00pm. You may also donate directly to the fire relief fund. For more information, please visit bigsurgallery.net or call 831-624-1172.

I hope you are all well and dreaming of rain.

Smoke Over Bixby Mountain July 8, 2008

Photo by David Peasley

July 6th Fire Meeting Summary July 7, 2008

A personal note:
Amid horrible reports of tensions (to put it lightly) between non-local fire and law enforcement officials and our locals, I feel so lucky to have a local fire fighting brigade defending not just my home against fire, but also my rights. The Mid Coast Brigade have fought for us to be able to stay in Palo Colorado as long as we have. They are doing an amazing job with the fire and with managing the needs of locals. While there may be many things to be upset about during this horrifically trying time, we should only be thankful for the local men and women who make up the Mid Coast Fire Brigade. I only wish that everyone in Big Sur could have local fire officials defending them as well.

Onto the news.

July 6th, 2008 Palo Colorado Fire Meeting

We continue to be under Evacuation Advisory. There continues to be a soft close on the road. We are asked to continue clearing our property, and to prepare for evacuation should anything get out of hand.

Today they started to back burn. We were told that the operation could not have gone better. As many of us witnessed first hand, it was a busy day in the canyon. There were C1-30’s, D2V Neptunes, Grumman-S2’s, lots of helicopters, and the big DC-10, all coming together to pull-of a major operation of back burning. (If I got any of those planes right, you can thank Norman.) The super scooper did not make it here from Canada. If you would like to see a photo that David took of the DC-10 dropping fire retardant on Bixby Mountain, you can go to http://tarawings.wordpress.com/

We were told there was a bit of a delayed start as they got all equipment into place. They chose between starting at either Devil’s Peak or Skinner Ridge. The chose to start with Skinner Ridge.

There were three firing teams working in tandem. Teams and planes worked to set back burn fires, drop fire retardant, and drop water on hot spots to keep the back burn under control. The DC-10 made three large drops of fire retardant each of which was one mile long. The DC-10 is based out of Victorville and was reloading out of Stockton.

Teams continue to work into the night on the back burn. Sixty to sixty five fire fighters are actively working on this part of the back burn as I write this. During the night, planes will not be used, but the relative humidity will help keep things cool.

We were told that the planes do not put out the fire- the dozer puts out the fire. It is only by creating these containment lines that the fire will be tamed. Because we do not have many roads, there are few pre-existing containment lines, so we have to build them.

The next few days will be critical to this operation. They got a lot of black on the ground, but the fire could still jump the line because of the winds. They will finish off the areas that have been started back burning and get as much black on the ground there before putting more fire on the ground anywhere else. On Tuesday they predict the winds to shift against us. On Wednesday they predict heat and wind. On Thursday they predict the winds to calm down.

We were told that our weather is so hard to predict because of the many microclimates in Big Sur. This a-typical weather makes fire activity hard to predict as well.

If the fire were to jump the line, it would still take a day or two before it was an immediate threat to us. The fire retardant that was dropped will help hold the line for the next few days. They are creating a fire break at White Rock as a contingency plan. There are various contingency plans being put in place.

There are also more fire lines being built to protect Carmel Valley. These lines may not tie directly into our fire lines. There is a division of fire management between us and the most Eastern part of the fire.

Fire teams dotted fire at the boyscout camp, doing controlled burns around buildings. The fire has not backed its way into the boyscout camp and they feel that the camp is secure.

We were told that we will probably see smoke for some time. Other parts of the dozer line still need to be back burned. There may be islands of heat throughout the places that have burned. Even when all of the fire is at some point contained, we will need to patrol the area until the next rain.

In the morning they will meet to assess the progress of the back burn and make further plans.

At tomorrow’s meeting we will learn about the North-most part of the fire that they still need to work on.

We were told that we are not out of the woods yet, but that we are in the home stretch.

We were told that each year the fire season gets longer and longer. While the fire season used to only last from mid-May to October, it now lasts from April to December. This means that we still have a long fire season to go.

We were asked to stay vigilant with out clearing. We were told that while many people’s properties have now been cleared, the roads continue to look very bad. Many roads are covered with dead tan oaks. Because many roads are shared among a multiple property owners, we are asked to come together to make plans for shared roads to get them clear. Among the worst of the roads is Greenridge. We were reminded that the Palo Colorado main road is not often cleared by the county, and therefore could be treated as a private road as well. Therefore property owners along the main road are encouraged to get together and maintain the road as best they can.

The new standard for fire trucks is quite large. To safely come down a road, they are looking for clearance that is 13 foot high and 12 foot wide.

When this is all over, they will assess the issue of roads and look at the worst roads. Pam is working with others to write a grant to the Monterey Fire Safe Council to help with road work.

However, it was pointed out that the home owners on Partington Ridge had just been awarded just such a grant, but did not have time to put the plan into place. We must be vigilant and we must clear our roads. Even if we have all cleared our houses, the fire fighters cannot get to our homes if our roads are not clear. We were given the number of J.V. Tree Service. They will come to the canyon with a chipper. (See the bottom for the number.)

A question was asked about how long our friends from the South can expect to be evacuated for. There is no way to predict that at this point, but we were told that they want to get people home as soon as possible.

There were clarifications made about who does and who does not need a Palo Colorado Permit issued to them by Cheryl. If you have any sort of document that links your name to Palo Colorado Canyon, you do not need a permit from Cheryl. This may be a tax form, license, utility bill, mail, rental agreement, etc. The only people who need a permit from Cheryl are people who do not have any of these things. These people may be adult children of Palo Colorado residents, or renters that do not have Palo Colorado documentation. If you are a Palo Colorado home owner or have a rental agreement, if you receive mail in Palo Colorado, if you pay bills in Palo Colorado, or if you have a license issued to you in Palo Colorado, you do not need a permit from Cheryl. You must, however, show whatever form of documentation you have to the CHP at the mouth of the road.

We were told that the Thermo-Gel representative may be at the meeting tomorrow night.

I don’t know about all of you, but I am going to bed with a good feeling tonight. I would like to quote Cheryl in saying “It was a good day, you guys.”

DC-10 Drops Fire Retardant over Bixby Mountain July 6, 2008

A DC-10 makes a drop over Bixby Mountain on July 6th, 2008.

Explanation of Fire Meeting Summaries on Surfire2008.org July 6, 2008

Hello! I hope everyone in the Big Sur community is staying safe and being vigilant. Thank you to everyone in the greater community for your interest and support.

My name is Tara Wings and I live in Palo Colorado Canyon. For those not from Big Sur, we are located on Highway 1, just North of where the Highway is (as this point) closed to all non-emergency traffic. Our road has a soft close on it, meaning that only Palo Colorado residents and emergency workers can come through. Please do not attempt to access the road if you do not live here, as you will not be allowed in without Palo Colorado ID or a special permit.

I have been writing summaries of the nightly Mid-Coast Fire meetings at our fire house in Palo Colorado and sending them to our neighborhood e-mail list. I thought that this information may be helpful for those in the greater community.

I do not have any special knowledge of fire activity or plans. I do not have any extra contacts with Unified Command. I merely take detailed notes during our meetings and attempt to rearticulate the information in an approachable and understandable way.

Please understand that I am new to this area and do not actually know first hand where many of the specific locations are that I am writing about, let alone how to spell them. I very well may get things wrong, but I always err on the side of leaving something out rather than putting up mis-information. Please write to the webmaster if you find an error. The entire point of this is to put out accurate information, and I would love your help in doing so.

The only reason that I am able to share this information with you is because of the wonderful, local Mid Coast Fire Brigade who has kept all operations and plans so transparent with us. They are part of our community and are fighting for us. They live here and are the reason that we in Palo Colorado have been allowed to stay for this long. We are trusting them with our homes, land, and lives, and I would not to put that trust in anyone other than the brave locals that make up the Mid Coast Brigade.

One more word on these summaries. I have originally written them for the residents of Palo Colorado Canyon and that is still their primary purpose. Throughout the post you will find references to phone numbers that are included at the bottom of the e-mail that I send to our neighborhood. These numbers will be deleted from the general post.

While I would love to have the time and energy to write a separate post just for this blog which could be more explanatory for those who do not live in Big Sur or the Canyon, I do not.

I hope this helps. Please consider donating to the Big Sur Fire Fund, by sending a check to CPOA, PO Box 59, Big Sur, CA 93920 (note “fire relief” on checks). Contributions may also be wired to the CPOA Big Sur Fire Relief Fund. To wire funds, contact Pam Peck 831 624-5418.

There are many of us who are out of work, out of home, and out of luck. To everyone in Big Sur and the Canyon, my heart is with all of you!