Big Sur fire doubles in size and triggers evacuations

The Plaskett wildfire in the Big Sur area on California’s coast doubled in size overnight, forcing the evacuation of residents from nearby areas. As of Friday, the fire had burned more than 5,900 acres, or about 2,400 hectares, in Monterey County.

The fire remains uncontained

According to The Guardian World, the Plaskett fire began on Tuesday and remained uncontained as of Friday. According to California’s fire service, Cal Fire, the cause of the fire is under investigation.

Helicopters and air tankers have been deployed to fight the blaze, carrying out targeted water drops. The work of ground crews is complicated by the steep terrain of the remote area and the limited number of roads leading to the fire zone.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Timber fire in the north

North of Big Sur, the Timber fire is also continuing and has burned more than 24,000 acres. It is 21% contained, but the fire has breached some containment lines. Smoke and cloud cover prevented specialists from determining how far the fire spread overnight.

Both fires have caused partial closures of Highway 1. This section of the road through Big Sur runs along the coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco.