Crestline under curfew
Business is slow at The Stockade.
In fact, all of Crestline is almost totally silent late Wednesday, the third day that a curfew has been in effect around the areas affected by the Grass Valley and Slide Fires. A California Highway Patrol officer on the watch for curfew breakers advised a Sun reporter that not much activity was likely to be found in this mountain community after sunset.
The officer's prediction was on target - there was clsoe to nothing going on in Crestline around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. But Lucy Espino, night bartender at The Stockade, isn't too happy about the curfew order.
Espino said county sheriff's deputies showed up at The Stockade around 6 p.m. Monday and told all the customers to go home.
"The fire's not threatening us, we're trying to feed people," Espino said.
By Wednesday, the Grass Valley Fire had burned its way into a drainage northeast of the Crestline area. San Bernardino Mountain communities from Crestline (at the west) and Snow Valley (at the east) have been placed under mandatory evacuation.
Espino said she would rather see The Stockade open to serve those who stayed in the mountains, as well as firefighters and even law enforcement officers who are presently charged with making sure people obey the curfew.
The bartender said she has seen unaccompanied minors wandering the streets of Crestline at night, and laughed at the fact that adults are not allowed to have a meal and beer at The Stockade.
"We have young kids out after 10 (p.m.) during curfew, and we adults have to be in by 6 (p.m.)," Espino said.
Crestline is under patrol. The Sun reporter who interviewed Espino was later stopped by a San Bernardino County code enforcement officer who notified sheriff's deputies that a man was on the streets. Deputies rolled out to meet the reporter, verified his press pass and informed the code enforcement officer that the reporter's presence was OK.
-Andrew Edwards