The Willow Fire was a wildfire that burned in the
Ventana Wilderness
The Ventana Wilderness of Los Padres National Forest is a federally designated wilderness area located in the Santa Lucia Range along the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. This wilderness was established in 1969 when the V ...
in
Monterey County
Monterey County ( ), officially the County of Monterey, is a county located on the Pacific coast in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 439,035. The county's largest city and county seat is ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
as part of the
2021 California wildfire season. The fire started on June 17, 2021, burned , and was fully contained on July 12, 2021. The cause of the fire is under investigation and is currently unknown.
Effects
The Willow Fire forced evacuations in the areas around Tassajara Road and Arroyo Seco Road in the
Ventana Wilderness
The Ventana Wilderness of Los Padres National Forest is a federally designated wilderness area located in the Santa Lucia Range along the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. This wilderness was established in 1969 when the V ...
of the
Los Padres National Forest
Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California, southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast ...
. Various campgrounds, including the China Camp Campground and Arroyo Seco Campground, were forced to close.
The fire threatened the
Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
The Tassajara Zen Mountain Center is the oldest Japanese Buddhist Sōtō Zen monastery in the United States. It is on the border of the Ventana Wilderness and within the Los Padres National Forest, southeast of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The ...
, a
buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
monastery located deep in the mountains along the
Big Sur
Big Sur () is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Carmel Highlands and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Range, Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from th ...
coast.
Although much of the monastery was evacuated, a number of trained firefighters from the monastery known as "fire monks" stayed behind to help defend the monastery from the fire.
The fire monks cleared brush around the monastery and ran a sprinkler system they called "Dharma rain," while also coordinating with local authorities.
See also
*
2021 California wildfires
By the end of 2021, a total of 7,396 wildfires burned across the U.S. state of California. Approximately 3,629 structures were damaged or destroyed by the wildfires, and three firefighters died during the wildfire season.
The wildfire season ...
*
List of California wildfires
This is a partial and incomplete list of wildfires in the US state of California. California has dry, windy, and often hot weather conditions from spring through late autumn that can produce moderate to severe wildfires. Pre-1800, when the a ...
References
2021 California wildfires
June 2021 in the United States
Wildfires in Monterey County, California
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