Wildfire Update

Californians will continue fighting off hundreds of wildfires over the holiday weekend, with 31 miles along Highway 1 already evacuated and hot, dry weather setting the stage for even more fires. Mandatory evacuations were issued for most of the 850 residents in the scenic coastal community of Big Sur on Wednesday when an out-of-control wildfire jumped a fire line, threatening more homes. The blaze had destroyed 16 homes and charred about 82 square miles of forest since it was started by lightning on June 21 in the Los Padres National Forest. It was about 3% contained Wednesday. Drought, heat and lightning storms have contributed to more than 1,100 fires that have blackened 680 square miles of land statewide in the past two weeks. The blazes have destroyed 60 homes and other buildings while threatening thousands more.