Locals' relationships with Cal Fire improve with Soberanes Fire.

Micah Curtis’ hands are still dirty from bulldozing a fire break to protect his family’s property on Apple Pie Ranch above Highway 1 in Big Sur. Curtis, 65, sits inside the house he helped his father build by hand in 1960. He’s still wearing a helmet and yellow fireproof shirt.

“It’s our pride. We built this place from a rotten, falling-down house with rats, into a little paradise,” he says. “People nowadays have no concept of the pride of ownership over generations.”

For weeks, Curtis, along with his son and about a half-dozen tenants, had been preparing for the Soberanes Fire, which began in Garrapata State Park July 22 then turned south toward Big Sur, leading authorities to issue an evacuation order Aug. 7. (As of Aug. 23, the fire had burned nearly 90,000 acres.)

Growing up, Curtis and his brothers would sign up to help the U.S. Forest Service fight fires in the Big Sur area. Curtis says it helped train him to fight four major wildfires over the years, starting in 1972. The 2008 Basin Complex blaze, which burned over 160,000 acres, is one he won’t forget, but wants to.

Sheriff’s deputies arrested Curtis’ brother for lighting a controlled burn. But his objective, he says, was simple: to save his home. (Charges of refusing orders of a firefighter and setting a backfire without permission were eventually dropped.)

Since then, Curtis says relations between locals and Cal Fire have improved, and he’s seeing proof of that newly cooperative relationship as they battle the Soberanes Fire: “They’re treating us like knowledgeable locals who know the terrain. Between the two of us, we can do so much more than six guys and a wing and a prayer.”

Sherrie Collins, emergency manager for Monterey County’s Office of Emergency Services, agrees that relationships between government officials and residents have improved.

One thing the county has done during this fire is facilitate connections with planners, the Health Department when it comes to hazardous waste removal, the tax collector and other departments.

“We have one-stop shopping,” Collins says. “The county has learned a lot in the last few fires and has built a better system. We are helping to facilitate people returning to their lives.”

Mary Adams, who was elected to replace longtime County Supervisor Dave Potter in 2017, also made the trek on dirt roads up to Curtis’ property. “I wanted to go up and see how they were doing,” she says. “The aftermath of the fire is going to be on my watch, and I want to be prepared.”