Monterey County’s Timber Fire remained in its existing footprint over the past 24 hours or so, and authorities announced Wednesday that they soon will be downgrading some evacuation orders in the area.
While the 25,000-acre fire is only about 23% contained, cooler temperatures and higher overnight humidity helped moderate its behavior.
“The Timber Fire has been burning now for over three weeks,” Cal Fire Battalion Chief Josh Silveira said during a news briefing Wednesday afternoon.
“The fire growth has been moderated, but it does continue to pose a threat to Monterey County in places that don’t necessarily have a huge population, but they’re spread out and we’re concerned and we’re doing our best to make sure that those communities are prepared,” Silveira said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation and, like the nearby Plaskett Fire, it’s burning in the rugged wilderness along state Highway 1 in the Big Sur area.
The U.S. Forest Service successfully conducted critical firing operations near Highway 1 and Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park while Caltrans crews worked to clear debris, scale the steep slopes to remove rocks, and get the road for reopening, according to Monterey County officials.
Highway 1 closure partially lifted
On Thursday at 6 a.m. the northern closure of Highway 1 — from mile marker 56 to mile marker 45 — will be lifted, while a closure will remain in effect for the Plaskett Fire from mile marker 16 to the the San Louis Obispo County line, according to county officials.
Also, evacuation orders will be downgraded to warnings for zones MRY-F016, MRY-F017, MRY-F018, MRY-F019, MRY-F021-A, MRY-F021-B, MRY-F022, MRY-F023-A, MRY-F024, MRY-F026 and MRY-F027-A.
“Now moving down the coast to the Plaskett Fire, that fire has grown much more rapidly,” Silveira said.
The Plaskett Fire is now at 29,000 acres and is just 1% contained.
“It’s burning in terrain that is very, very similar to what we’re seeing with the Timber Fire, however the fuel there is much older, it doesn’t have the fire history, and that’s contributed to its exponential fire growth like we saw in the last week or so,” he said.
For evacuation zones and other information, go to www.readymontereycounty.org/emergency.
Shelters for people evacuated by both fires can be found at the Carmel Mission Inn Conference Center at 3665 Rio Road in Carmel and at the Cambria Veterans Memorial Building at 1000 Main St. in Cambria.
