BIG SUR – Piles of charred rubble smoldered near Central California's scenic coastal Highway 1 yesterday as a ferocious wildfire descended on this storied town, destroying more cabins and vacation homes nestled against miles of burning forest land.
The stubborn blaze, which has burned more than 64,000 acres in the Los Padres National Forest, was one of hundreds raging statewide. Officials reported California's first firefighter death this year – a volunteer who collapsed on the fire line in Mendocino County.
So much forest has burned near Big Sur that animals have been forced out of their habitat and onto the roads. Buzzards flew overhead to snatch up dead rodents and squirrels, and residents reported seeing bear, deer and other large animals migrating toward the sea.
Meanwhile, crews near Highway 1 fought back flames from homes and historic landmarks, including the upscale Ventana Inn, which was surrounded by crackling, burning brush yesterday afternoon. Several homes on a ridge a quarter-mile from the cliffside inn burned the night before.
At least 17 homes have been destroyed in the area since the blaze broke out June 21, and fire officials couldn't confirm the newly burned property. The fire remained 3 percent contained.
Many Big Sur residents followed mandatory evacuation orders issued this week, but some chose to defy the orders, staying behind to try to save homes and businesses.
Kirk Gafill, general manager of Nepenthe restaurant, said he and five employees were up all night trying to protect the cliffside business his grandparents built in 1949. Wearing dust masks, the crew scrambled to stamp out the dinner-plate-sized embers dropping from the sky, he said.
“We know fire officials don't have the manpower to secure our properties,” Gafill said. “There are a lot of people in this community not following evacuation orders. Based on what we saw during Katrina and other disasters, we know we can only rely on ourselves and our neighbors.”
Greg Ambrosio, who lives next to Nepenthe, signed a waiver Wednesday night to stay in his house. But his plans to stay were disrupted when a neighbor woke him up in the middle of the night to warn of the approaching inferno. “We go outside and the fire had just expanded. It was Armageddon,” he said. “Yellow smoke and ash mixed with fire . . . raining down.”
Ambrosio said he and his wife grabbed their cat and drove to a relative's house nearby for the night.
A total of 367 wildfires were burning around the state, most ignited by lightning, reported Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service. That figure is down from a peak of roughly 1,500 fires a few days ago.
In all, the wildfires have scorched more than 790 square miles and destroyed at least 65 structures across Northern and Central California since June 20, according to Cal Fire, the state's firefighting agency. With firefighting resources stretched thin early in the fire season, counties have enlisted volunteer firefighters to help with smaller blazes.
Yesterday, volunteer firefighter Robert Roland, 63, died at the hospital after collapsing a day earlier in Mendocino County. It was the first reported death of a firefighter this season, and the governor ordered flags at the state Capitol to fly at half-staff in Roland's honor.
Meanwhile, a third wildfire burning 2,400 acres in the southern extension of the Los Padres forest north of Santa Barbara forced residents to evacuate in the town of Goleta.
