Relentless cycle of disaster has Big Sur in crisis again: 'You really have to fight to be here'

Few places have been more thoroughly battered by the force of climate change and Mother Nature than Big Sur.

Epic rains triggered landslides that closed Highway 1 into the famed coastal enclave for three years.

It reopened to much celebration in January. But a 10-mile stretch of Highway 1 is again closed because of a fast-moving fire threatening local landmarks, leaving Big Sur residents both on edge and frustrated.

“We are really in a recovery year, going from surviving to thriving, so it’s a bit of a kick in the teeth when you hit this kind of hiccup,” said Kirk Gafill, who owns the popular Nepenthe restaurant on the picturesque coastal road.

The fire comes as Big Sur is trying to recover from the economic losses of being cut off for so long.

Locals were anticipating the busiest summer in years. Restaurants were packed with diners and hotels were fully booked with tourists looking to soak in the region’s misty redwood forests and dramatic ocean views.

Then, the Timber fire exploded. It started over the weekend in the Los Padres National Forest near Loma Vista and has charred more than 3,700 acres as of Wednesday, threatening homes and businesses.

Big Sur has faced a relentless cycle of natural disasters over the past decade including destructive wildfires, mudflows, rockslides and coastal erosion that threatens its steep and fragile landscape and has isolated the iconic destination.

In the summer of 2016, the Soberanes fire burned more than 130,000 acres north of Big Sur, destroying dozens of homes and forcing evacuations. In 2017, heavy rains caused consecutive disasters with the collapse of the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge and a major landslide near Mud Creek that left residents cut off for months as the California Department of Transportation made repairs.

Most recently, a series of atmospheric river storms in January 2023 triggered a major landslide that initiated a nearly three-year closure of Highway 1. Repairs were delayed by additional slides in the years that followed.

A wildfire in Big Sur has burned 2,000 acres, spurred evacuations that encompass the Nepenthe restaurant and the Alila Ventana resort, and closed state parks in the area.

For those who make a living in tourism, the Timber fire marks nature’s latest blow to the beloved, yet often plagued, coastal locale.

“You really have to fight to be here,” said Melissa Morris, a third-generation Big Surian. “You have to be able to kind of withstand all of the things that happen.”

On Sunday evening, Gafill watched from Nepenthe’s front deck as the fire burned over the ridge line across Highway 1, flames licking down gullies and ravines as it consumed all the lush fuel in its path. The trees went up like roman candles, he said.