‘Idyllwild wasn’t burning:’ Shops, inns aim to bounce back after Cranston fire

Like many shop owners around Idyllwild, Bryan Tallent and John Stonitsch closed their unusual store that features dozens of varieties of jerky, jam and hot sauce while the Cranston fire raged recently near the artsy, rustic hamlet in the San Jacinto Mountains.

After reopening a few days later, foot traffic at Coyote Red’s remained uncharacteristically slow for the busy summer season.

“We just had our first sale this morning,” Tallent said Wednesday, Aug. 1. “And they were friends of ours.”

Tallent worries the next weeks and months will mimic the pattern that followed the Mountain fire of five years ago.

“When that happened, it was basically the end of our summer,” he said.

He said customers returned slowly and sales rebounded even more slowly. He said it wasn’t until October that business returned to normal in the shop with the curious name, which depends on tourists for 95 percent of its income.

After the Cranston fire torched more than 13,000 acres, destroyed 12 structures and knocked out power lines and highway guard rails south of Idyllwild, merchants were left to ponder how long it would take — this time — for business to rebound. Some said it would take two to three months. Others said it would take at least a month and maybe much longer in the Riverside County mountain town near Hemet.

Many merchants were upset that authorities believe the fire was triggered by an arsonist. Makeshift “wanted” posters mentioning the Temecula man, Brandon McGlover, arrested in connection with the blaze and featuring a drawing of his face were pinned on bulletin boards at several places in town.

“What a jerk,” said Jennifer Muir, one of the managers of the hip new Idyllwild Brewpub.

“I can’t believe anybody would do this — on purpose,” said Muir, who added that the famed environmental pioneer John Muir is her great-great-great uncle.

Many merchants also were anxious about the near future.

However, Frank Ferro, who along with wife, Lori, owns an Italian restaurant named Ferros and the brewpub, didn’t seem worried. He has lived through several threatening fires during his three decades in the area, including the 27,531-acre Mountain fire of 2013 and the 9,600-acre Bee Canyon fire of 1996.

“As I recall, it (the town) bounced back rather quickly,” Ferro said. “People love Idyllwild. It’s a special place, not only for us locals but for tourists.”

Jessica Ramirez, owner of El Buen Cacao, a shop that sells chocolate made from scratch from cacao beans, said the ubiquitous presence of social media may speed the recovery of an economy heavily dependent on tourism. Merchants and visitors alike, she said, are posting Facebook messages that the town survived intact and is open for business.

For the moment, however, there wasn’t much sign of a recovery at El Buen Cacao.

Summer is a prosperous time. “Even weekdays are good for us,” Ramirez said. But as of midday Wednesday, she said, not one customer had stopped by.

It was more encouraging at Idyllwild Vacation Rentals.

After refunding customers’ money and closing the last weekend of July, when the fire was raging, owner Chris Titus said about 20 of 32 rental cabins were occupied Friday, Aug. 3, through Sunday, Aug. 5.

“We don’t have any cancellations for this weekend,” she said.

Fullerton resident Linda Suttie kept a cabin reservation she had made well before the fire broke out.

Suttie planned to celebrate her 60th birthday there and had reservations to stay five days in a five-bedroom cabin with a pool and spa. Eight family members were to join her, including her 28-year-old son Kyle from Rhode Island. Before arriving Monday, July 30, Suttie said the cabin rental agent assured her the fire was settling down and ashes had been filtered out of the pool.

Even so, it was impossible to miss the wildfire’s presence. The Cranston fire charred brush within several hundred feet of the cabin. The aroma of smoke was present, though not overpowering.

“It smelled like somebody had a wood fire going in their chimney,” she said. But the air was clear, she said.

On Wednesday afternoon, Suttie, her son and her mother seemed to be having a good time, bouncing from shop to shop in the town’s business district.

There, too, the fire impact was unmistakable. Many shops were shuttered. And high on a ridge above town, the pink splash of an earlier fire retardant drop was clearly visible.

“We’re joking that the official color of Idyllwild now is hot pink,” Tallent said.

And, while no one knows exactly how long the steep decline in tourist traffic will last, the reason for it, merchants say, is always the same: People who live down below hear media reports about flames and evacuations, and they assume the idyllic mountain retreat is burning to the ground.

“People think that Idyllwild is gone,” Titus said.

But it’s not, said Annie Weaver, general manager at the Red Kettle restaurant, where lunch and dinner business is down 60 percent to 70 percent.

“Idyllwild wasn’t burning,” Weaver said.

On the other hand, Will Lowry, a local real estate broker, said the economy will benefit from the quick work firefighters made of the Cranston fire.“It’s all fallen out of the press already,” Lowry said.

The spotlight that briefly shone on the community has been eclipsed by the massive Carr fire raging in the vicinity of Shasta Lake.

“That Shasta fire is a freakin’ disaster,” said Ben Ballesteros, a retired chef who bought a home in nearby Pine Cove with his wife, Sonya, three months ago, leaving behind their long-time home in San Clemente.

Other factors could work against a rapid rebound, merchants said.

One is the traffic restrictions that have been in place along Highway 74, where Southern California Edison crews are repairing power lines and Caltrans is replacing guardrails and signs. The 74 is a key artery into the mountain area, providing access from Hemet on the west and Palm Springs on the east.

Another factor is the forest closure. During the height of the fire, the U.S. Forest Service closed trails, roads and all lands within the San Jacinto Ranger District of the San Bernardino National Forest. And it showed.

“Usually you see hikers all over the place,” Ballesteros said on Wednesday. “I haven’t seen any.”

But federal officials said they planned to reopen on Saturday, Aug. 4, some popular trails, including Devils Slide Trail, which provides access to the Tahquitz Peak Fire Lookout.

Scott and Sarah McCormack, who own the Idyllwild Village Market off Highway 243, estimate 6,000 people visit their grocery store during a typical summer week and 3,500 of them are from out of town. They said a significant number of the tourists are hikers.

One thing in the town’s favor is the 25th annual Jazz in the Pines festival, a signature Idyllwild event. The show will go on as planned Aug. 10-12, festival organizers say.

John Newman, chief operating officer for Idyllwild Arts, event sponsor, said ticket sales are roughly on a par with this time last year.

Scott McCormack suggested the fire itself may turn out be a driver for the economy.

Sure, the blaze will persuade some to stay away, McCormack said. But it may lure others, if only because they want to see for themselves what happened.

“It’s kind of a hiccup — but also an opportunity,” he said.