As the Chronicle notes, the Golden Bear Estates neighborhood has been evacuated in the last two fire seasons, once in 2015 during the Wragg Fire, and in 2014 during the Monticello Fire.
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Firefighters in northwest Nevada are bracing for dry, hot winds and the possibility of erratic flames as they battle a series of wildfires that have charred nearly 75 square miles of rangeland. It was about 10 percent contained.
Farther north, firefighters have nearly controlled a 10-square-mile fire in a wilderness study area near where the Burning Man counterculture festival is held.
More than 5,400 firefighters from across California are fighting the blaze that is threatening 2,000 structures. Both were started by lightning.
Smoke was expected to clear Tuesday afternoon in many cities north of the fire, including Gilroy, Santa Cruz and Salinas, according to Cal Fire.
Investigators arrived at their ruling about the cause of the blaze after more than 150 hours of examining the scene and interviewing witnesses.
Officials want the public’s help to find whoever started the flames that blew up to more than 71 square miles and destroyed 57 homes.
“I would encourage anybody who was in the area at the time of the fire to do the right thing and come forward with any information that they might have”, added Monterey County Sheriff Steve Bernal.
The fire took the life of 35-year-old Robert Oliver Reagan, a Friant, California resident, succumbed to fatal injures along the fire line.
Today we learn that investigators have traced the source of the fire to a single abandoned, illegal campfire in Garrapata State Park, as ABC 7 reports. The campfire in question was located up around a closed area of the park near the Soberanes Creek Trail estimated to be about 2 feet by 2 feet.
No one has been injured, but at least three dozen homes and RVs have been evacuated. Firefighters were trying to stop a Washington blaze from reaching a thickly forested security zone at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
It has scorched more than 79 square miles and is just partially contained.
Firefighters continued to make progress on a half-dozen wildfires in northern Nevada Tuesday but crews feared gusty winds blowing in from the Pacific Ocean could fan flames that forced evacuations earlier on tribal lands near Pyramid Lake north of Reno.
Crews will continue to work to return service and rebuild infrastructure as safely and as quickly as possible, PG&E officials said.
Almost 1,500 firefighters are battling the blaze burning timber in rugged terrain.
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The fire zone totaled about 78 square miles Monday, said fire spokeswoman Jesse Bender. The wildfire burning west of Crater Lake National Park has grown to more than 400 acres as of Tuesday, and the park remains open, but fire officials say West Rim Drive could be intermittently closed over the next couple of days.
