Fire-ology & forestry firegeezer on 01 Jul 2008 09:38 am
Sprinklers, Hose Lines and …… Zen
AS THE WILDFIRE IN THE BIG SUR OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA rages all around, one group of devout landowners has declined to evacuate the area.
The priests and students of the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center are hunkering in for the firefight at their retreat. Last week 75 visitors and students were evacuated leaving a basic fire crew and cooks. Located 14 miles from the nearest paved road, the Buddhist community is getting ready to stave off the encroaching flames.
Two Buddhists work to prepare the Tassajara
monastery to withstand the wildfire threat.
(Los Angeles Times / Durell photo)
Equipped with a 50,000 gallon pool, two pumps and hose lines, the remaining monks and priests are shedding their robes and donning running gear. They have also jury-rigged a system of plastic water piping and lawn sprinklers across the roofs of their log-and-stone buildings. All their day is spent clearing fire breaks around the camp.
They’re not alone, however. Cal Forestry has encamped a 30-man inmate fire crew there so that they can be fed at the monks’ mess hall. This is not the first time the MFD (Monk Fire Dept.) has gone through this drill. In 1977 and 1999 the monks and forestry crews held off the flames of wildfires that moved through the 160 acre complex that is the oldest Buddhist monastery in the Western Hemisphere.
They won’t be martyrs, however. If the fire is too large or intense, they will move out along with the fire crew.
The Los Angeles Times has a good background story HERE.
KCBA Ch. 35 has a good video report on the monks’ preparations:
