Big Sur's condors appear unharmed by the Soberanes Fire, for now.

In the summer of 2008, when the Basin Complex Fire raged though the Santa Lucia Mountains, Condor #477 was only a chick, and too young to flee from his nest in a redwood tree.

Yet when flames ultimately swept through the forest around his nest, Condor #477—an endangered California condor—survived unharmed, earning him the nickname "Phoenix." 

There have been no such stories to come out of the Soberanes Fire, because presently, all condor nests in the area are outside of the burn zone. 

In a statement sent out today from the Ventana Wildlife Society, Executive Director Kelly Sorenson writes that in addition to the nests being safe for now, VWS hasn't detected any condors—many of which are GPS-tagged—suffering harm as a result of the fire. 

On the contrary, perhaps. Using its GPS tracking, VWS made a YouTube video of two condors scoping out the area around the burn zone. One of those condors is Phoenix, who stayed west of the fire and roosted for night in lower Palo Colorado July 26. 

Sorenson writes that it was "possibly to investigate and scavenge animal carcasses," and that such behavior has been observed in other species. 

In sadder news included in the statement, Sorenson reports that one of the region's oldest condors, Condor #251, a 15-year-old breeding male also known as "Crush" died a few days before the fire. 

His body has been sent to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Pathology Lab to determine the cause of death. 

In the beginning of Sorenson's statement, he also offered gratitude to the firefighters helping to bring the Sobranes Fire under control, and offered his condolences to those who have lost their homes, but especially to dozer operator Robert Reagan III, who lost his life fighting the fire in a rollover accident.