Esalen Institute

Status Update

Daily news, direct from Esalen.
Last updated: August 17, 2008

This status page is intended to provide up-to-date information about Esalen, our community, and our programs during the current wildfires in Big Sur. Please continue to check our web site as we will be posting updates daily. Thanks for your continued blessings, support, and generous donations.

Latest News and Information

Esalen reopened on Friday, July 18.

Read updates from Gordon Wheeler, Esalen President and CEO. Gordon’s update for Friday, August 15 has been posted.

To hear more about the Esalen response to the fire, listen to an interview with Harry Feinberg, Esalen Executive Director of Operations, on Talk of the Bay for Wednesday, July 17 on KUSP Central Coast Public Radio. The hour-long program is available here; to skip ahead directly to the Esalen segment, jump to 39 minutes, 57 seconds into the track.

Highway 1 is completely reopened to all traffic and all evacuation notices have now been lifted from Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park south to Lucia along Highway 1.

From the Monterey County Herald Editorial Sunday, July 13: “Was it a surprise to anyone that at least a few Big Sur inhabitants bucked authority and stayed behind to stare down the flames on their own? Did anyone in authority expect the family farmers and aging hippies and craftswomen and real-world refugees to simply sit tight and nod while men in uniforms gave their daily updates? What were the chances that they would just let Esalen or Tassajara burn? About as good as the chance that they would simply watch their own limbs burn.”

Make a Donation to Support Esalen

Esalen is suffering significant financial losses as a result of the closure. Please make an online donation to support Esalen, using any major credit card. Our deepest thanks go out to those of you who have already contributed. If you have any difficulty making your donation online, or would like to speak with someone personally, please contact our donations coordinator, Nancy Worcester by email or phone at (831) 667-3032.

Donate

As a 501(c)(3) non profit corporation, all donations to Esalen are considered tax deductible to the extent allowable by law.

Esalen Workshops Cancelled

The following programs were cancelled:

We are exploring the possibility of rescheduling the Arts Festival celebration, and will post this information when it becomes available.

Any payments you have already made will be automatically transferred into Esalen credit and available for future use. If you would like to request a full refund please fill out the brief form on the refund page.

Esalen Workscholar Month Cancelled

The workscholar month from June 29 to July 27 was cancelled. The next workscholar program will begin on Sunday, July 27.

Esalen Gazebo Reopens July 21

The Esalen Gazebo School Park is temporarily closed. Gazebo will reopen its daytime eco-education program, Monday July 21st to local Big Sur families. Questions? Please call the Gazebo Director after July 17th at (831) 667-3026 or email Katie Nash.

Esalen: Our Safety, Our People, Our Land

Given the mandatory evacuation notice issued Monday, June 30 (lifted as of Wednesday July 9), a number of staff made the decision to leave on Tuesday before the 5 pm deadline. Approximately 55 people stayed. The photo below was taken Monday morning, June 30, after our daily community meeting ended just after 10 am.

Esalen Group Photo: Big Sur Fire 2008

Our Heroes

Our deepest thanks go out to the firefighters pictured below, as well as all the other significant numbers of firefighters and service personnel engaged in protecting the people and the land of Esalen and throughout Big Sur.

Firefighters on the Oval

In addition to the work being done on the larger scale to fight the fire, here on Esalen property we have a fire clearance and response crew, pictured below. What we lack in uniform, we make up for in dedication and teamwork. Our clearance crews have done extensive clearing of tree limbs, brush, debris and other objects around buildings at South Coast and on the main property in preparation for the fire’s advance.

The Esalen Fire Clearance and Response Crew

The Esalen fire clearance and response crew is led by Eric Erickson, Montgomery London, Wade Jones, Thomas Varner, and Carl Swanson. Members include: Pearl Bryan, Phillip Burrus, Josh Dapkus, Robert Dayap, Leo Forte Jr., Matt Glazer, Bill Herr, Jake Hesse, Josef London, Benoit Mansech, John Murphy, Mac Murphy, Bruce Neeb, David Nelson, Tony Piccione, Jonathan Polansky, Ken Rivas, Ann Roemer, Bryan Scott, Cory Shank, Leo Thompson, Mick Walsh, and Rob Wilks.

More About the Fire

“The Indians/Basin fires are now the sixth largest wildfire in California history. Fire authorities may count the two fires as separate events but they have merged and there is active burning within both perimeters. Basin Complex Fire command is fighting it as one fire. The Indians Fire incident base was closed and the two camps joined forces earlier in the week.” [Source: Firefighter Blog]

Backburning

Also known as a controlled burn, backburning is a technique which involves settings a precautionary fire downwind of the main fire for controlled fuel clearing by backing it into the main fire.

On Sunday July 6, firefighters began backburning along the east side of Highway 1. The photo below is from last night, on Burns Creek Bridge between the Esalen main property and South Coast Center. More details and pictures are available on Gordon’s updates page.

Firefighters on Burns Creek Bridge

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Photo credits: Daniel Bianchetta, Robert Dayap, Harry Feinberg, Bryan Scott, and Jeremy Taylor.