Platina, California, September 29, 2020
The brotherhood of St. Herman of Alaska Monastery. Photo: sthermanmonastery.com
St. Herman of Alaska Monastery in Platina and St. Xenia’s Skete in nearby Wildwood, California, again find themselves under threat of wildfire.
St. Herman’s Monastery was founded by Blessed Seraphim (Rose) and Fr. Herman (Podmoshensky) in the late 1960s, and is now home to the grave of Fr. Seraphim, who died at the age of 48 in 1982. The monastery has been threatened by wildfire numerous times, though it has thus far been preserved by God’s grace. Last month, OrthoChristian reported on a threat to the monasteries and other Orthodox communities throughout California.
One of the monks of St. Herman’s wrote to OrthoChristian today about the latest threat:
“We are again threatened by fire, this time from the northeast. This ‘Zogg’ fire has evidently destroyed much of Ono and some of Igo, and is generally heading in our direction.”
Ono and Igo are not far from Platina, on the road to Redding.
“Given the present situation and the distance of the fire from us, we're staying put at least for today,” he writes, though they are ready to evacuate at any minute. “The threat is real, and the air has stunk for the last two weeks. Now blackened leaves are falling, as well as ashes,” he writes.
The August Complex fire, to the south of the monastery, is only 47% contained he writes, and is much closer, though less dangerous. At 900,000 acres, it is the largest wildfire in California history.
