Tourism is Big Sur’s only industry and summer is peak season. Since the Soberanes Fire started nearly two weeks ago, businesses have stayed open, but tourist traffic has slowed to a crawl.
Fire trucks replace the rental cars, which normally line the sides of Highway 1. Robbe De Cooman and his girlfriend, Lende Vandezande, are some of the few still making the trip.
“We’re from Belgium, we came here on a road trip for four weeks,” De Cooman says.
The couple was planning to camp at one of Big Sur’s state parks.
“We knew about the fire, we heard about it and we looked it up, but it wasn’t clear to us what was open and what was closed, so we just thought we’ll do a day trip to Big Sur,” says Vandezande.
While the parks are closed, the fire has not reached Highway 1. With the highway open, so are Big Sur businesses, trying to keep their employees afloat.
Near lunchtime at Nepenthe Restaurant Tuesday, the traditional wait for a table was gone. Jill Solvane and her husband drove two hours from Paso Robles to show their support during this slow time.
“We love Nepenthe,” Solvane says. “They have the best margaritas going. It’s beautiful and we’re happy to be here and happy to help. Not that we’re going to spend that much money, but you know they’re good people up here.”
Kirk Gafill is the General Manager of this iconic Big Sur restaurant, which also has a café and gift shop. Gafill says some tourists show up completely unaware of the situation, but most have re-routed their plans over fear about potential evacuations.
“We’ve seen business drop about 35 to 50 percent on any given day,” Gafill says.
Gafill is also the president of Big Sur Chamber of Commerce.
“For Big Sur, tourism is the industry, there is no second industry. And summer is peak season, so to have a fire at this particular time is really impactful,” he says
And it’s not just the business loss; Big Sur also has a housing shortage. The Soberanes Fire marks the third destructive wildfire since 2008, and the damage is adding up.
“We have seen upward of 15 percent of the housing stock of Big Sur lost due to wildland fire. I mean… it’s certainly unlike anything we’ve seen, certainly in this century,” Gafill says.
But for Big Sur, Gaffill says community comes first.
“If there’s a fire, (neighbors) are doing everything to help each other out, and that’s always been true,” says Gafill.
And he adds - Big Sur will bounce back.
