Big Sur residents watch cautiously as the Dolan Fire burns.

As the Dolan Fire burned in Big Sur today near the Esalen Institute, firefighters worked largely from below the fire on Highway 1. Rather than trek into dense brush on steep terrain, they stood along the highway and shot spark guns uphill into the brush, starting dozens of small fires, part of an effort to control the burn on the east side of the highway. 

As the fire inevitably moves down the hill toward Highway 1, their goal is to control that movement so it doesn't jump to the west side of the highway with an uncontrolled sudden change. 

Fire officials have not provided updates figures today on acreage burned, but the Los Padres National Forest, the lead agency on this fire, announced Wednesday morning that about 2,500 acres had burned between 8pm last night when the fire started, and 7:30am this morning. A suspect was arrested on arson charges.

David Halterman and Virginia Craft moved nearby, to a property known as Redwood School about a half-mile north of Lucia, just a few months ago. In March, as shelter-in-place was beginning, they relocated from Colorado and became caretakers of the property, which was in fact a school some 80 years ago.

They went down to the highway to see the fire last night. "It was humbling," Craft says. "We were watching the fire shoot embers, throw embers, a tiny spark, and the next thing you knew, that whole area of the hillside was in flames."

They spent the better part of Wednesday using a Bobcat to build a fire break, wetting down structures and hauling some of their most meaningful belongings from the yurt where they live down a four-wheel-drive road to a grassy area that is more like a natural fire break. 

Based on advice Craft received from Henry Miller Memorial Library Executive Director Magnus Toren, she prioritized items she had made: photographs, journals she'd written in. "Magnus gave us the advice to grab the things you created in life, and make that your top priority," she says. "Those things are irreplaceable." 

They are hopeful about the house making it: "It's kind of 50/50," Halterman says.