Crews on Sunday continued to battle two wildfires in Monterey County near Big Sur that have collectively burned more than 33,000 acres and forced more than 600 people to evacuate.
The Plaskett fire near Fort Hunter Liggett has spread down to Highway 1 and remains “pretty active” on all sides, according to Lee Beyer, spokesman with the U.S. Forest Service. That includes the southern perimeter near Los Burros Road where it is threatening homes and structures.
The fire was 8,241 acres as of Sunday morning — up from about 6,000 acres Saturday morning — with only 1% contained.
More than 600 firefighters are tackling the blaze from the air and ground, working in “incredibly steep and difficult terrain,” Beyer said. Portions of the area have not burned since the 1970s, “so it’s about a 55-year-old fuel bed, and that’s much more difficult to contain because it’s a lot heavier, a lot thicker, a lot more dead components to the fuel.”
Road closures are in effect on Highway 1 between Little Sur River and Salmon Creek, as are areas of the Los Padres National Forest near the fire.
It‘s one of two stubborn blazes burning in Monterey County.
The Timber fire, which ignited Aug. 8 about 30 miles north of the Plaskett fire, was 21% contained as of Sunday morning. Crews were not able to fly over the fire for several days due to smoke and visibility concerns, but were able to map it Saturday at 24,839 acres, Beyer said.
The fire remains active in all directions — primarily within the Ventana Wilderness which is also incredibly remote and rugged terrain.
“In the earliest days of the Timber fire, it became clear that this was a fire that was going to be measured in weeks, not days,” Monterey County Supervisor Kate Daniels said during a community meeting Saturday afternoon. “And now it’s looking like potentially could even be months.”
Weather over both fires remains dry, with humidity measuring only 16% to 19%, according to Roger Gass, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in the Bay Area.
Areas below 2,000 feet are expected to benefit from more moisture and humidity as the marine layer deepens into next week, but “above the marine influences, it’ll still be quite warm and dry,” he said.
Crews may benefit from slightly cooler temperatures in the days ahead, Gass said, and wind conditions are expected to remain fairly calm in both areas.
For now, mandatory evacuation orders and warnings remain in effect for both fires. Evacuation shelters have been opened at the Carmel Mission Inn and the Cambria Veterans Memorial Building.
Beyer said he was not aware of any structures that have been destroyed by either blaze so far, save for a small outbuilding that burned in the Timber fire several days ago.
About 2,192 firefighters have been assigned to the Timber fire and 661 to the Plaskett fire, with more expected to arrive in the coming days.
But resources have been stretched thin this season as crews have responded to several wildfires, including devastating fires in Spokane, Washington, that burned nearly 10,000 acres and destroyed roughly 900 structures.
The National Wildfire Preparedness Level in the United States is at Level 5, the highest level, reflecting severe wildfire activity and strained resources.
“We’ve been very busy pretty much all summer,” Beyer said.
The cause of both Monterey fires remains under investigation.
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