Wildfire turns Big Sur economy into a real cliffhanger
Merchants and workers along the fabled coastline fret about how they'll recover from the ill-timed blaze, which hit at the beginning of the peak summer season.
BIG SUR -- — Basil Sanborn is on the phone, equal parts hope and trepidation.
Glen Oaks Motel, his family business, survived the devastation of the Basin Complex fire, which swept through this storied California outpost and shut it down for the better part of the last three weeks. Now the hard part has begun.
"All of our business and buildings are intact," Sanborn tells the far-off caller. "We sure hope you come see us."
How soon that can happen is question No. 1, followed in quick succession by how much of an economic blow the blaze has caused this magnet for seekers and sightseers. Scenic Highway 1 has reopened for locals, but fire officials estimate the coastal route will largely stay off limits for everyone else at least until Sunday.
As the smoke clears and workers trickle back, business owners and local officials have begun assessing the financial damage here in the place Henry Miller called "the face of the earth as the Creator intended it to look."
Sanborn figures his motel will take a $100,000 hit this summer season. The inn, gas station, cafe and store at Ripplewood Resort next door will lose at least that much. The Ventana Inn and Spa hasn't pegged its losses yet, but it's not scheduled to reopen until August.
Nepenthe restaurant has probably lost more than $800,000 in gross receipts, and it's impossible to say when -- or even if -- business will return to normal. Big Sur Bakery and Restaurant will probably lose around $70,000.
"It's very summer-driven here -- June, July, August," said bakery co-owner Michael Gilson, whose house was one of 26 destroyed in the blaze, which was 41% contained Friday. "The three months is where you make your income. It's devastating . . . I'm in denial."
If anyone's allowed a little denial, it's Gilson, who spent Wednesday with his bookkeeper, compiling a list of vendors and figuring out payment plans.
He was evacuated from the house he shares with his girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter with just an hour to throw their belongings in their cars. A friend offered another house; they were later evacuated from that one too.
After spending a night in the bakery, they heard from other friends that a rental house the friends owned above Ventana Inn would be available soon and at Gilson's disposal.
"I thought, 'God, that would be a great spot'," he said. "That night we watched that house burn."
