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N. California fires hang on Rugged terrain hampers efforts in Trinities, Big Sur From staff and wire reports SAN FRANCISCO -- Stubborn lightning-caused fires burned through more than 72,000 acres of Northern California's forests Monday and forced Benedictine monks to flee their monastery high in the coastal mountains of Big Sur. The fires were burning in nearly inaccessible terrain in the Trinity Alps Wilderness Area, as well as in two areas of Big Sur, more than 100 miles south of San Francisco. Smoke from the Trinity area fires is responsible the recent haze experienced in Southern Oregon, including the Rogue Valley. Given the near-vertical slopes, wind, and thick forests, no one expects any of the fires to be contained anytime soon. "It's too stubborn and the fuel is too old," said Joel Vela, spokesman for the California Division of Forestry. More than 47,559 acres had burned by Monday in the Trinity fire, making it the largest wildfire currently burning in the nation, fire spokeswoman Rosemary Hardin said. It was spreading northwest toward the Klamath National Forest. Because the terrain was too steep or remote in many places to carve firebreaks with bulldozers, firefighters used other strategies. In Trinity, they exploded fallen timbers with dynamite. In Big Sur, fire crews with chain saws rappelled down from helicopters. "Some of these mountains go straight up and down," said Joe Pasinato, a Forest Service spokesman with the firefighters in Big Sur. "I don't see how you could possibly build a hand line on it." As many as 250 vacationers and monks at the New Camaldoli Hermitage, a monastery perched 1,300 feet above the Pacific Ocean, were ordered to leave Monday evening. The Hermitage, reachable only by a narrow twisting road from the coastal highway, houses between 30 and 40 monks who maintain vows of silence and support their contemplative life by making fruitcakes. "We have temporarily evacuated," said a message left on their answering machine Monday night. "The fire is approaching this way. We're in no immediate danger but they tell us it's better to keep moving. "All the nonessential personnel are leaving; a few monks are remaining behind," the message said. "God bless you. Pray for us.'' The evacuation order was made after one of two large wildfires burning in the Big Sur area of the Los Padres National Forest burned through two dry creeks and then raced up nearby hills. Twenty homes and other buildings were threatened, but no one was injured, said Paul Christensen, a fire information officer. The other Big Sur fire came within a mile of another religious center, Tassajara Hot Springs, which is populated by Zen Buddhists. Residents were advised to either evacuate, or be ready to leave in a hurry. It's the off-season for tourists there, so only a few people remained on Monday. Nearly 5,000 people were trying to contain the two groups of fires, and a fleet of air tankers dumped water or chemical fire retardant. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA