Still standing:
Ojai coffee house opens for business after firefighters save town.
OJAI, Ventura County — The morning after this tiny, artsy community was expected to go up in flames, Jon Furness unlocked the front door of his coffee shop and flipped the sign in the window to “open.”
His staff had evacuated, so he brewed the coffee, steamed the milk for lattes and measured the streams of espresso alone. Residents tentatively pulled into Coffee Connections’ parking lot off Highway 33, unsure if the sign in the window was a false beacon. Nearly every business was closed. Except this one.
“This is my livelihood,” Furness said. “What else am I going to do?”
He opened Coffee Connections with his wife, Brenna, 12 years ago. They met in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest on a mission trip and later moved to Ojai, her hometown. They know their customers: Fred with the breve latte, Kerry with the blended mocha, Vera with the six espresso shots.
On Thursday, Furness slept in until 6:30 a.m. He had been up until 1:30 that morning, eyeing the news and packing bags for his children in case the flames charged toward their home. But when dawn came, and somehow his part of Ojai was still standing after the Thomas Fire roared past, he drove to the shop on the corner of El Roblar and St. Thomas drives.
He flicked on the Christmas lights and checked the water filtration system. He tied an apron around his waist and waited.
Soon, the customers came. They lined up next to firefighters, who had just spent more than 12 hours defending the bucolic community caught in the crossfire of the Thomas Fire. One group came from Monterey, and their faces were caked in soot.
“I was dreaming of a fountain of coffee all night,” said one firefighter, trying to hand a $10 bill to Furness.
“You’re taken care of,” he replied in his thick British accent. “There you go, boss. Cheers.”
The customers stayed even after their Mason jars ran empty, sharing stories of flames and fear and worrying about what was to come. They talked about the neighbors who had stayed, the generators they had finally gotten around to ordering, and the TV news crews streaming into their city with big cameras and foam microphones. Some connected to the Wi-Fi, studying fire maps and checking hotel availability in nearby cities on their computer screens.
About 7,000 people live in Ojai, tucked into a valley in the hills north of Ventura. Downtown is dotted with art galleries and spas; it’s a place people go to to take a break from hectic lives.
This week, it’s a place from which many have had to run.
“It’s scary because there are really only four roads in and out,” said Kerry Karnes, 45. “When they are closed, we are stuck.”
She lives off an Ojai road lined by horse pastures. When she evacuated Wednesday night — taking her disabled father, four dogs, two cats and one guinea pig — she wondered if it was goodbye. Only one more day, she told herself. Then the Santa Ana winds will calm.
But weather reports said the devilish winds would keep up into the weekend. Ojai had suffered some damage in the blaze by Thursday, but so far it wasn’t major, authorities said.
Fred Roland, 79, told Furness he will be back soon for his morning coffee. He can’t sleep another night in the boat owned by his brother. A cat lives there, too. Besides, in the rush to evacuate, he left his photo albums and good work boots behind in his home in nearby Mira Monte.
“I get the breve latte on important days,” he said. “This was important. It’s California. You have to expect these things. But the wind didn’t blow the way it was supposed to. It’s over.”
Even if it’s not, Furness said he will be here Friday morning.
“All in the name of espresso,” he said.
The front door whisked open, letting in a plume of smoky air. He hollered hello and measured espresso into a cup. He already knew the couple’s order.