Spring 2025

WILDFIRE Local Author Theo Maehr Br ings Attent ion to Fi re Safety B Y M I CHA E L CHAT F I E LD T he devastating Los Angeles fires of January 2025 have brought the issue of fire safety and prevention to the fore for many Californians. For many Monterey County residents, they stirred memories of the 2016 Soberanes Fire that clawed its way through more than 130,000 acres from southern Big Sur to the Carmel Highlands. Unfortunately, human nature often leads us to complacency; as time goes by, we tend to move on to other matters and put the notion of protecting our property from nature’s fury on hold…some- times until it’s too late. Some, however, recognize the danger and plan accordingly. One such individual is Theo Maehr of the Palo Colorado Canyon area. He has chronicled his efforts in a book, “Fire on the Mountain: Living with Wildfire in the Santa Lucia Mountains of Big Sur.” The book is not intended solely as a compellingly written and grip- ping tale of one man’s preparation for and battle with wildfire—though it definitely is that. Maehr’s main intent is to demonstrate to others how they can safely protect themselves in environments that pose the risk of conflagration. “When I bought my property, it was clear that fire was the biggest threat,” he says, “and I knew that to live safely here I would need to do everything possible to create a fire-safe home and land- scape. There is nothing I would enjoy more than helping people in our area and others in a fire-prone landscape to do the same so that their home, animals and loved ones can be safer in events that are becoming more common in our changing environment.” When he first laid his ice-blue eyes on a 44-acre mountaintop prop- 150 C A R M E L M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 5 Even though he was running a fever, Theo Maehr began defending his property with the most effective tool—a shovel. Photographed four days later, the days and nights of backbreaking labor are etched into his features. Photo: David Royal /The Monterey County Herald/TCA L I V I N G W I T H