Dear Scout Family,
As the Soberanes Fire continues to spread in the Big Sur and Carmel area, we wanted to share the impact it has had upon Camp Pico Blanco. While the wildfire has affected our current summer camp program and continues to threaten our Camp, we are watchful and hopeful that in the end our Camp facilities will still be standing. No one can predict what might happen at this time, but for sure as of this writing, the Camp has NOT been significantly damaged. We are posting the latest accurate information from Cal-Fire on our Facebook page.
Late Friday evening, Cal-Fire contacted our staff, issuing a mandatory evacuation order. Fortunately, we were able to wait until Saturday morning when Scouts and volunteers woke up as our camp was not in direct threat of the fire. Notifying key unit leadership within and outside of camp of our plan, we evacuated 220 Scouts, Scouters and approximately 40 camp staff to the Crossroads Safeway Shopping Center located in Carmel, CA. After everyone was accounted for, Scouts and volunteers headed home.
As of recent information on the on-going wildfire, we are told that the Palo Colorado Road was damaged by the fire and that 20 homes have been destroyed thus far. The main road into camp has been crossed with the fire at least once. Cal Fire reports that five dozers worked their way from Botchers Gap towards camp working on the fire lines. While we assume minimal damage has hit some of the outside border of our acreage, Camp Pico Blanco remains unaffected thus far. Our Ranger, Rodney and his family are safe and temporarily relocated outside of Camp.
Our over-all goal is to ensure we continue to provide a quality summer camp program for our Scouts. While that will not occur at Camp Pico Blanco the next two weeks, we are thankful for the quick action of our council staff to ensure Scouts have been placed at another camp to be able to enjoy their summer camp program. Our Scouts were just as we would hope, they were well PREPARED.
We will maintain communication with Cal-Fire to stay updated on the spread of the wildfire, and we want to thank you for your understanding as we adjusted the final weeks of camp at Pico Blanco due to this emergency. We have also determined to cancel any programs that were scheduled through August. Please stay up-to-date on our weekly newsletter and website for fall camp programs.
Our Council will endeavor to have our camp resume programs there as soon as possible. We would also encourage you to follow Camp Pico Blanco on our Facebook page. We are posting the latest information we have on the fire there.
If you have any questions or concerns, you are always welcome to call our council office at 408.638.8300 to speak with us.
Yours in Scouting,
Jason Stein Don Chapin
Scout Executive/CEO Council Board President
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