Wildfire threatens N. California resort
The future of a century-old resort in Northern California is threatened after lightning started a wildfire that has been blazing around the forest.
The Deep Fire, northwest of the Trinity Alps Resort near Deep Creek, began Aug. 15, according to the resort. Though the resort was officially in a pre-evacuation status as of Friday, the resort was forced to evacuate by Trinity County Office of Emergency Services to keep the area clear should the fire reach the property, owner Margo Gray wrote on the website.
“It has been a surreal couple of days here at the Trinity Alps Resort,” Gray wrote. “We are hopeful that firefighters will be able to contain the fire in the coming week.”
Both the resort and the restaurant are closed until further notice, Gray said, with hopes that they will be able to reopen next Saturday. The resort was able to relocate its evacuated horses and donkeys, she added.
Shasta-Trinity National Forest authorities said the fire grew to 3,000 acres as of Saturday morning, and it appeared to be at zero containment, according to Watch Duty. The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for Trinity County on Saturday, noting that fires could spread rapidly due to high winds and scattered lightning.
Though the area got about half an inch of rain Friday, Gray said the fire was still burning and growing, with resources stretched thin with other fires around the area.
Bay Area native Mike Siri, who lives in Reno, said he has stayed at the Trinity Alps Resort every summer for 51 years straight — with the exception of this week, when he learned that his parents and siblings were evacuated and that his vacation scheduled to begin Saturday was canceled.
“I knew kind of where the fire was, and I knew it wasn’t on their doorstep, so it wasn’t a safety thing I was concerned about. I’m glad they were proactive and evacuated before it was too late, because it could’ve been dangerous,” Siri said. “But I was just thinking, ‘This is horrible. It’s really sad.’ ”
Siri, 61, said he’s the only person in his family who has consistently been to the resort every year since he was in elementary school — and it hasn’t changed much. He’s made some of his longest friendships through meeting other kids at the resort when he was younger.
As he transitioned to the role of parent, bringing his two sons to the resort, Siri said Trinity Alps is the one place where he feels like he can just let his kids explore without worrying over their safety or their dependence on phones.
“That’s what makes it special because it’s just a fun, old-school, safe place. … It’s a vacation everyone looks forward to,” he said. “For my kids, it’s the vacation they go to. It’s just cool having your kids think about it the same way you do.”
Siri said he’s “pretty confident” the resort will be spared by the fire and does not plan on counting year 52 as a tarnish on his streak as he looks ahead to next year’s vacation.
Marin County resident Chris Welch said he also has been visiting the resort for as long as he can remember, with his parents going even before he was born. Welch was supposed to visit Saturday, but he said he’s “keeping good thoughts” and hoping he can return to the resort next year with his two children.
“This is definitely concerning. It’s a treasured place. It would be irreplaceable,” he said. “When the world’s changing so much so quickly, this is a place that I like to call ‘the land that time forgot.’ It’s exactly like it was when I was a kid.”
Welch said his children have already begun making lifelong memories at Trinity Alps, like learning how to use a fly fishing rod. What makes the resort so special, he added, is the people they share it with.
For Sonoma County resident Corrine Asturias, receiving the news that the resort was closed for her planned vacation was devastating. Asturias, who has frequented the resort every summer for 50 years, said she and her family were also originally supposed to leave Saturday for the resort but were forced to cancel their plans.
“It was a magical part of our childhood — it’s almost like a foundation of our lives,” Asturias said. “It’s a whole other world that you slip into. It’s where the family reunites every year, same time, same place. We plan for it all year and look forward to it. It’s a place where we recharge.”
Asturias said the Trinity Alps community is very strong. She’s seen people meet there and fall in love, return with their children and make new friends along the way, returning each summer to familiar faces.
Though she said it’s been frustrating with scant information on the status of the resort, she and her family hope the place where they have created so many memories emerges unscathed. In the coming days, Asturias said, she plans other ways to spend time outdoors and connect with nature to distract herself from the troublesome news.
“It’s a close call, but we gave up our vacation this week because of the firefighters and for safety, and if giving up our vacation saves that place, I’m absolutely willing to do it. It’s worth it,” Asturias said, choking up as she reflected on what the resort means to her. “The owner has always said that there are angels that watch over that place — well, this is their moment. It feels really serious.”