Tassajara Fire: Update and Recap

The wildfires threatening Tassajara Zen Mountain Center near Big Sur, California, moved no closer to the monastery on Friday and Saturday. However, the blogger of Sitting With Fire reported last night that the fire is more active now. The weather is getting hotter and windier.

[Update: Just posted on the Los Angeles Times web site:

Fire officials said the Basin Complex fire, near Big Sur, was pressing against containment lines in the south, and in the east was moving toward the narrow gravel road that leads to the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, where a group of monks remained behind to fight the flames.

I will update the blog if there are more developments today.]

Click "Read More" for the recap.

Here's the recap: Tassajara Zen Mountain Center is the oldest Zen monastery in the U.S. and possibly the oldest Buddhist monastery in the Western Hemisphere. When wildfires that had been burning since mid-June threatened the forests around Tassajara, the guests and most students were evacuated by June 25. However, a crew of 22 students, mostly monks, defied orders and stayed behind to save the buildings from fire. Local authorities insisted the monks provide names of their dentists for identification purposes.

The monks have been clearing brush and installing sprinkler systems, and they are hopeful the buildings will be saved. However, as the Sitting With Fire blogger wrote on Saturday, Tassajara is at the end of a long, exposed road. If the fire engulfs the forests along any part of that road, Tassajara will be cut off from rescue or medical help. For this reason, "Incident Command" does not plan to send fire fighting crews to the site.

See also "Fire Threatens Tassajara Zen Mountain Center" and "Firefighting Monks of Tassajara."