As the Loma Fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains continues to scorch almost 4500 acres, an 80-year-old clothing-optional resort in the area that has previously provided refuge for earthquake and fire victims and evacuees over the decades has opened its doors to them once more.
The Lupin Lodge Resort, a nudist colony founded in the 1930's in Los Gatos that most recently made headlines because it was accused of illegally siphoning water out of a local creek, is taking in however many evacuees would like to stay there, and welcoming firefighters to come have a meal or shower off. The lodge, complete with heated pool, typically has 30 to 60 guests, depending on the season, and the high season is likely over?
"If people want to wear clothes, that’s fine. If they want to skinny dip, that’s fine too,” Lupin Lodge CEO Lori Stout tells CBS 5.
The fire, which has been burning since last Monday, September 26 and was originally expected to be contained over the weekend, is now 81 percent contained, after destroying a dozen homes and 16 outbuildings, as the LA Times reports. Investigators were already suspicious last week that an illegal marijuana grow may have sparked it. The true source remains under investigation.
Full containment is now expected by Saturday, October 8, as NBC Bay Area reports, and as Cal Fire reports, 81 structures remain under threat. Mandatory evacuation orders remain in place in Santa Clara County for the Loma Prieta ridgeline area including all tributary roads along Summit Road east of Soquel San Jose Road to Ormsby Fire Station. And this includes Loma Chiquita, Casa Loma, and Loma Prieta Way, per Cal Fire.
As the Mercury News reports, over 1,300 firefighters are working to contain the blaze, some working 24-hour shifts.
