Under Fire at Tassajara

David Zimmerman, Director of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, has posted details of the battle for Tassajara. Zimmerman was one of the five priests who stayed to fight the fire that threatened to destroy the historic monastery. Here's just a bit:

It still amazes us—Abbot Steve Stücky, Mako Voelkel, Graham Ross, Colin Gipson, and myself—to recall the speed in which the fire descended and converged on Tassajara simultaneously from four sides: from Flag rock to the northeast, with 30- to 40-foot flames; from Hawk mountain to the northwest, rushing down right above the hill cabins with 10- to 15-foot flames; over the Hogback and Suzuki Roshi Memorial trail to the west, and from the south via the Overlook ridge, its progress cloaked by the canopy of trees above us.

It's a gripping story.