Also See: Monday: Trees Blaze in Northern California
The Associated Press
MICHAEL WARREN
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A Benedictine monastery with stunning views of the Pacific Ocean was mostly empty today as wildfires raced through the scenic Big Sur and chased away as many as 250 monks and visitors.
Flames also approached a Zen Buddhist center.
AP World Wide Photos/Phil Klein
Firefighters from Kern County work one of several fires in the Los Padres National Forest, 20 miles south of Big Sur, Calif., Monday Sept. 20,1999. Crews are fighting the fires in a very rugged mountainous terrain near camping and hiking areas. As many as 250 vacationers and monks at the New Camaldoli Hermitage, a monastery perched 1,300 feet above the Pacific Ocean, were ordered to leave Monday evening.
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However, fire officials reported today that a cooling trend had helped in the fight against the fires in the scenic region, said fire spokeswoman Dena Chavez. ``We've had a better relative humidity for the past two days.''
The fires had burned about 28,000 acres in the Los Padres National Park. In all, lightning-caused fires had burned more than 72,000 acres of Northern California forest.
A mandatory evacuation order was issued Monday for the monks at the New Camaldoli Hermitage.
``We're in no immediate danger but they tell us it's better to keep moving,'' said a message left on the monks' answering machine Monday night.
``All the nonessential personnel are leaving; a few monks are remaining behind,'' the message said. ``God bless you. Pray for us.''
One of the 10 monks who stayed behind, the Rev. Romuald Duscher, said today he could smell the smoke. ``But it's not hazy and the winds are calm,'' he said.
The monastery, perched 1,300 feet above the Pacific Ocean about 140 miles south of San Francisco, is popular with visitors seeking solitary contemplation. Rooms are available for rent by the month.
Reachable only by a narrow, twisting road from the coastal highway, it also houses 30 to 40 monks, who take vows of silence and support their contemplative life by selling fruitcakes over the Internet.
Elsewhere in Big Sur, a fire burned to within a mile of Tassajara Hot Springs, a center for Zen Buddhists. Residents were advised to either leave or be ready to leave in a hurry. It is the off-season for tourists, so only a few people remained Monday.
About 210 miles north of San Francisco, some 47,500 acres had burned in the Trinity Alps Wilderness Area, the largest active fire in the nation, fire spokeswoman Rosemary Hardin said.
