fire&lightning.jpg (25459 bytes)mlogocir.gif (16386 bytes)News and Photos from
The Tassajara Fire

September, 1999

by Laura Cohan, Administrator of MIRA

Chews Ridge, CA -- The Tassajara Fire, started by an unusual lightning storm on Sept. 8, eventually led to the evacuation of the Zen Buddhist monastery at Tassajara Hot Springs. Despite constant bombardments of fire retardant from helicopters and planes, nothing could could prevent the spread of fire in the trackless back country south and west of MIRA's Oliver Observing Station.

Ivan Eberle, MIRA's live-in caretaker, kept watch on the fire's progress since its ignition. When the fire threatened the observatory, Ivan promptly opened the "MIRA Canteen," providing hot coffee, bathrooms, and showers day and night to the hard-working firefighters. Forest Service specialists used our third-story deck to look out over their efforts and plan strategy.

The fire line was drawn at our observatory, and it was drawn wide. Our driveway, once a single lane choked with chaparral, is now much wider, with excellent visibility. Huge bulldozers scraped away enough of our surrounding vegetation to ensure the observatory's safety, and then, to add to the margin, firefighters set a backfire down the west side of the ridge into Miller Canyon. Because the Forest Service and all of the firefighting groups concentrated so much effort so far ahead of the fire, we are happy to report that the observatory is no longer threatened by the fire.

However, due to the fact that the fire is still burning and the forest remains closed, we cancelled our Sept. 26 observatory tour and the Oct. 9 Friends Night star party. We hope to resume activities in time for the Oct. 24 observatory tour, the last scheduled tour of the season. See our Calendar of Events for more info.

During the period of Sept. 13 through Sept. 20, Ivan captured the following photographs of the fire from the observatory and surrounding areas.

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The fire burned quite close to the observatory, which you can see in this photo as a white spot to the left.

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At times the flames shot into the air, seeming quite close.

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As if one lightning storm weren't enough, a second storm came through the week after the fire started, providing this unique and hellish landscape.

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Evening winds caused the fire to burn fiercely most nights. Here, firefighters and their headlighted vehicle are silhouetted by the fire.

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Smoke and flame blend beneath the stars in this image of two separate areas of fire.

Click on the thumbnails above to see larger images. For more information about purchasing reprints, please email ije@mira.org. All photos © 1999 MIRA.

Highlights from the Los Padres National Forest webpage

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