Big Fire Near Al's House

[Stephen W. Desper]

COMMENT:   Al's property contains not only his lovely home, but the Red Barn Studio, the animal barn, five guest cabins, a garage, chicken coop, storage buildings and a lake.  A few years ago Alan had the forsight to invest in many large barrels of an anti-burn foam. These are bought with the good graces and blessings of the Big Sur fire department. Those residents who have this supply of foam on their property, by arrangement with the fire dept., can expect their buildings to be covered with the foam by the fire department, if the fire is so intense it could ignite by flash-flame. If you don't have foam on your property, the fire department uses water mostly to control the flames. I know he had enough foam for the house, and expect that by now he has foam also for the studio (his most valuable building).  The foam is removed by hose & water.

Considering how fast things grow in BigSur, the loss of green vegetation will be replaced. Most of the extremely large trees just burn a little and come back. It takes a year or two, but the area will return to its beautiful self fairly quickly.

As far as finding Al's house from these postings, good luck! It is easy to get lost trying to find the place, and if you don't know to make turns, those one-lane roads will take you to a dead-end or a gate.

Of course, no one wants to see any damage to BigSur or Al's home, but he is very on-top of all the preventive measures for the area in which he lives. These fires are not uncommon this time of year and are something with which everyone lives and copes who live in BigSur. I have been there when you could see flames over the hill. It's scary for certain!  But they all seem to be (somewhat) use to it and have proceedures in place to protect the animals and buildings.   ~swd

[bgas]

As far as finding Al's house from these postings, good luck! It is easy to get lost trying to find the place, and if you don't know to make turns, those one-lane roads will take you to a dead-end or a gate.

  ~swd

Can you walk us thru the twists and turns to get  there?

[DonnyL]

As far as finding Al's house from these postings, good luck! It is easy to get lost trying to find the place, and if you don't know to make turns, those one-lane roads will take you to a dead-end or a gate.

  ~swd

Can you walk us thru the twists and turns to get  there?

Drive for a couple miles
You'll see a sign and turn left
For a couple blocks
Next is Al's, you'll turn left on a little road
It's a bumpy one

You'll see a white fence
Move the gate and drive through on the left side
Come right in
And you'll find Al in his house somewhere
Keeping busy while he waits

[bgas]

As far as finding Al's house from these postings, good luck! It is easy to get lost trying to find the place, and if you don't know to make turns, those one-lane roads will take you to a dead-end or a gate.

  ~swd

Can you walk us thru the twists and turns to get  there?

Drive for a couple miles
You'll see a sign and turn left
For a couple blocks
Next is Al's, you'll turn left on a little road
It's a bumpy one

You'll see a white fence
Move the gate and drive through on the left side
Come right in
And you'll find Al in his house somewhere
Keeping busy while he waits

That seems really familiar; is that really the way?

[monicker]

I thought humor wasn't allowed in this thread. Is it okay to make jokes now that the fire is almost entirely out? Is there a certain percentage of containment that makes it okay for jokes? Like, maybe under 50% means it's not okay to joke around, but if it's over 50%, it's fine? How does this work?

[KittyKat]

Glad all is well at Al's abode. Thanks for the directions to Al's house, where it sounds like he's busy doing nothing. Though out in the barnyard, the chickens are doing their number.

[Emdeeh]

News reports now say that the fire is 100% contained. The Jardines are all OK, but a good friend of Al's lost his home.

The Monterey Herald has a photo slide show, with one shot of Al in it. You'll have to scroll through a lot of pics, but he's there.

http://photos.montereyherald.com/2013/12/16/photos-firefighters-battle-wildland-fire-in-big-surs-pfeiffer-ridge-area-dec-16-2013

[Dutchie]

i saw him in picture 44 on the back and picture 50 in front.

[Emdeeh]

I noticed those too, but you have to know who you're looking for to spot him in the crowd.

[bgas]

I noticed those too, but you have to know who you're looking for to spot him in the crowd.

Kinda like picking a hobbit in the crowd?

[RangeRoverA1]

COMMENT:   Al's property contains not only his lovely home, but the Red Barn Studio, the animal barn, five guest cabins, a garage, chicken coop, storage buildings and a lake.  A few years ago Alan had the forsight to invest in many large barrels of an anti-burn foam. These are bought with the good graces and blessings of the Big Sur fire department. Those residents who have this supply of foam on their property, by arrangement with the fire dept., can expect their buildings to be covered with the foam by the fire department, if the fire is so intense it could ignite by flash-flame. If you don't have foam on your property, the fire department uses water mostly to control the flames. I know he had enough foam for the house, and expect that by now he has foam also for the studio (his most valuable building).  The foam is removed by hose & water.

Considering how fast things grow in BigSur, the loss of green vegetation will be replaced. Most of the extremely large trees just burn a little and come back. It takes a year or two, but the area will return to its beautiful self fairly quickly.

Of course, no one wants to see any damage to BigSur or Al's home, but he is very on-top of all the preventive measures for the area in which he lives. These fires are not uncommon this time of year and are something with which everyone lives and copes who live in BigSur. I have been there when you could see flames over the hill. It's scary for certain!  But they all seem to be (somewhat) use to it and have procedures in place to protect the animals and buildings. 

Great post, Mr. Desper! I knew Al has a big house & studio, but I could never imagine just how rich his territory is! Big Sur being quickly returned to its scenic form is good news too. Thanks for chiming in!

I thought humor wasn't allowed in this thread. Is it okay to make jokes now that the fire is almost entirely out?

You rightly thought, monicker. Humor isn't allowed in all the dangerous threads. Smile Brian shouldn't have started this clownade some pages ago. As you may know, everyone has their own ethics on do's & don't's, but here we all must be a little sympathetic towards victims.
 
2bgas: I hate picturing Al's reaction if he (or Matt or Adam) reads the "hobbit" stuff, that was really childish of you. Learn finding respect for members of the band you are collector of. It's easy as this.

In any way, I'm happy that fire's gone & all the neighbors are alive.

[feelsflow]

Yes RangeRoverA1,  Big Sur is so beautiful, and Pfeiffer Beach is one of the best along there.  Been there many times, but never even looked for Al's ranch.  I'm sure it's very well guarded.  Al would be friendly if you did though.  He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would come running at you with a pitchfork.  When I lived in Pacific Grove (near there) one summer, I put together a small tent structure in the very thick low growth trees.  It is so hard to walk through, you could leave personal possessions and not worry about someone finding your stuff.  There are a lot of people living out in the wilds of Big Sur.  Real Mountain Men, tough.  It's much too big to be policed.

As for the comedy...this is not over for folks who live there.  Their Christmas has been damaged.  They know how to bond together to get through.  One of the reports I read talked about the "eerie silence" - that's cause, even with no major loss of personal livestock, the wild animals didn't fair as well.  Mountain men know when to run, wild animals run scared and die in the confusion.   

I was surprised more than offended by the jokes when I posted the "clown people" comment the other day.  I'm not here to tell you what to do.

[SMiLE Brian]

Say goodnight to the bad guy- Tony Montana

[Custom Machine]

Yes RangeRoverA1,  Big Sur is so beautiful, and Pfeiffer Beach is one of the best along there.  Been there many times, but never even looked for Al's ranch.  I'm sure it's very well guarded.  Al would be friendly if you did though.  He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would come running at you with a pitchfork.  ...

Haven't been to Pfeiffer Beach in many years, but around 30 years ago on the road down to the beach on the right hand side there was actually a sign "Jardine Arabians" over the entrance to the road to Al's ranch.  Al's youngest sons, Robbie and Drew, told me it was finally taken down because from time to time it attracted curious souls who followed the road to the ranch.