So many gorgeous cars & motorcycles ... so many events ... this week on the Monterey Peninsula! ONCOURS Read all about them in our C colorful special WEEK section this week! VolumeThe 102 No. 33 Carmel On the Internet: www.carmelpinecone.com Pine Cone August 12 - 18, 2016 TRUSTED BY LOCALS AND LOVED BY VISITORS SINCE 1915 CITY EMAIL SYSTEM FAILS Smoke blankets Peninsula as fire’s growth slows By MARY SCHLEY By MARY SCHLEY Santa Lucia mountains, while slowly climbing to 55 percent containment as of Thursday morning. An outbreak that saw THE NEARLY simultaneous failures of two hard dri- IN ITS third week of ravaging the wilderness and blanketing the fire grow nearly 10,000 acres between Sunday morning ves caused the City of Carmel’s email system to crash last the Monterey Peninsula in heavy smoke, the Soberanes Fire and Tuesday morning forced evacuation of residents and the Wednesday, bringing the sending and receiving of mes- grew by more than 16,000 acres, mostly in isolated parts of the closure of businesses in Big Sur, and fire officials twice sages to a standstill until IT manager Joel Staker managed closed Highway 1 overnight this week in anticipa- to restore the system Friday evening. tion of high winds and dangerous conditions. As of A backup system also failed, complicating matters, but Thursday morning, the fire had consumed nearly “we were able to, for the most part, save all of the users’ 70,000 acres. data,” Staker said this week. “We’re still working through With the fire growing more slowly, evacuation the process of restoring the individual mailboxes on the orders for everyone except the few on a stretch of back end.” Coast Road north of Andrew Molera State Park Email that had been queuing up since the system went were lifted this week, including in Palo Colorado, down started flowing as usual Friday night, he added, so where residents were allowed to return for the first it didn’t appear any critical messages were lost during the time since the fire was ignited by an illegal campfire outage — but the three-day silence was unsettling. in Garrapata State Park on July 22. The count of 57 “Our email servers crashed and died on Wednesday,” houses and 11 outbuildings destroyed hasn’t city administrator Chip Rerig said in his Aug. 5 “Friday changed since July 30, and the number of structures Letter” to residents. So email silence from city hall didn’t threatened by the fire dramatically dropped from a mean incoming emails were being ignored, he explained. high of 2,000 several days ago to 410 as of Aug. 11. “We’re just not receiving (or sending) email presently. As people return to areas that have been off lim- City staff expects to restore the system this weekend. its, Cal Fire officials asked anyone who finds aban- Please be patient with us for the next few days and call doned fire hoses, pumps, gas cans or any other fire- (rather than write) with any issues or questions.” PHOTO/MICHAEL TROUTMAN, DMT IMAGING fighting equipment to call the fire information cen- This striking photo is as beautiful as it is tragic, showing a majestic grove of badly See EMAIL page 17A scorched, and very likely dead, trees in Rocky Creek. See FIRE page 8A Firefighter grabs coffee cup to help injured bird Locals mad about n Rescued fire animals up to 226 at SPCA evacuations while By KELLY NIX tourists keep touring IT MAY be the first time a Starbucks cup has been used to help save a life, but a fledgling bird rescued in a coffee cup last week is none the By CHRIS COUNTS wiser. A Santa Barbara firefighter on the line near Old Coast Road in Big Sur BIG SUR residents criticized public officials this week discovered a tiny fledgling Pacific slope flycatcher in distress on Aug. 2. after many were told to evacuate their neighborhoods Aug. 7 He grabbed the nearest Starbucks cup and placed the bird inside before due to the threat of the Soberanes Fire — while at the same taking is to the SPCA for Monterey County for care. time, tourists were allowed to visit the coastline. “He is doing very well,” SPCA spokeswoman Beth Brookhouser told Residents living north of Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn and south The Pine Cone Monday. “When the bird arrived, he was holding one of his of Andrew Molera State Park were awakened by deputies eyes shut. We think it was probably because of smoke irritation.” Sunday in the early morning hours with mandatory orders to SPCA wildlife workers are feeding the flycatcher a delicious pairing of evacuate — presumably because the fire was headed their mealworms and crickets. Brookhouser described the bird as “bright, alert way. Yet when they packed their valuables, left their homes and responsive.” He is eating well from a syringe and is perching, both and drove to Highway 1 to flee north along the coast in the PHOTO/COURTESY SPCA good signs. emerging light, some were shocked to discover that tourists were still driving up and down the scenic route. This little Pacific slope flycatcher is breathing cleaner air after being rescued in a coffee cup last week. See BIRD page 15A See LOCALS page 11A MISSION GETS SHINY, NEW QUADRANGLE AS $2M PROJECT DRAWS TO A CLOSE By MARY SCHLEY cessful project behind us, as we proceed with preserv- ing the Mission.” THE GREEN fencing has come down in the The work entailed removing the old, cracked con- Carmel Mission parking lot and construction crews crete in the courtyard, and digging trenches to install are cleaning up the grounds following an overhaul of new water lines, irrigation, electrical and communica- the historic property’s courtyard and fountains — the tions equipment, and sewage and drainage pipes. New first improvements in the $20 million Phase II restora- colored concrete and strips of bricks were reinforced tion project that also includes updating and upgrading with rebar and laid in the courtyard, which Grabrian the landmark’s museums and other buildings. Phase I, said should withstand wear for the next century, completed in 2013, focused on the seismic retrofit and “while retaining the Quadrangle Courtyard’s original overhaul of the Basilica, and cost $5.5 million. The look and feel.” funds have been and are being raised by the nonprofit Carmel Mission Foundation. Strengthening and restoring The foundation’s president, Vic Grabrian, said Overall, Phase II of the Mission renovation calls for Blach Construction and the other contractors working seismically strengthening and restoring the property’s on the project were under the gun to finish it in time five museums, California’s first library, and the for the annual Carmel Mission Classic car show, held Orchard House, California’s oldest adobe residence. on the Wednesday of Concours Week — which some The city’s historic resources board approved the pro- refer to as the Monterey Peninsula’s “Holy Week.” posed upgrades earlier this year. “It was a tremendous effort to finish in time for the “Life safety issues are challenging continued use of PHOTO/VIC GRABRIAN, CARMEL MISSION FOUNDATION Carmel Mission Classic car show and Car Week,” The Quadrangle Courtyard at the Mission is a popular spot for private and parish Grabrian said. “The foundation now has another suc- See MISSION page 15A events, not to mention contemplation. It just got a major sprucing up. Have the complete Carmel Pine Cone delivered every Thursday evening to your iPad, laptop, PC or phone. Free subscriptions available at www.carmelpinecone.com 2A The Carmel Pine Cone August 12, 2016 Sandy Claws By Lisa Crawford Watson golden retriever at the SPCA, she said no, but quietly saved the photo to her phone. As she looked into his Taken with Toby beseeching brown eyes, she found she couldn’t take her eyes off his. SHE DIDN’T want a dog, but her kids did. It had Deciding she could at least slip out to the SPCA, if been 20 years since she’d managed the dynamics of only to show the kids she cared about their interests, a dog in her household, and she hadn’t missed it. Her she stopped by the shelter on her way to work. As family had always said she’d do best with a toy dog soon as she saw the dog with the soulful eyes, sitting that didn’t jump, bark, bite, drool or shed. quietly behind the glass, her eyes welled with tears. She actually appreciated animals in an artistic She led the dog into the yard, and sat down on a sense; she even had sculptures of horses, and paint- bench. He put his front paws on her knees and laid ings of rabbits and greyhounds and birds. Yet when- his head in her lap. She petted him with both hands ever she encountered a dog, she’d greet him with that and thought, “I think I’ll call you Toby.” flat-palmed, “Nice, doggie” kind of pat. She put him on a 24-hour hold and went to work, When her kids showed her a photo of an Airedale- not realizing her children would notice, in their con- stant vigil of the SPCA website, that “their” dog was on hold. The tearful texts began within minutes. “He’s on hold! He’s going to someone else! I’m devastated!” was accompanied by a string of sobbing emojis. Once she got home, she surprised her girls with a ocean & junipero, carmel-by-the-sea trip to the SPCA to adopt the dog. In their exuberance, new they started suggesting names for him.