The Hearst Castle in central California remains closed Sunday as a result of a wildfire burning in San Luis Obispo County.
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The fire started at 4:05 p.m. August 13 at Running Deer and Chimney Rock roads south of Lake Nacimiento, Cal Fire officials said.
Fire spokesman Brad Pitassi said early Saturday that the blaze in mountain areas of San Bernardino County is 68 percent contained.
Hearst Castle, which became a state park after William Randolph Hearst died in 1951, is one of California’s biggest tourist attractions and home to his vast art collection.
Before adjourning, supervisors ratified a local emergency proclamation issued Friday by County Emergency Services Director and CAO Dan Buckshi, related to the Chimney Fire that has burned more than 37,000 acres and destroyed 52 homes and outbuildings by Tuesday morning.
Get free real-time news alerts from the Livermore Patch. “Today, the division on the ground at Hearst will determine if they will be continuing to back burn on the property”.
According to Cal Fire, the Chimney Fire’s behavior has remained extreme. Once the morning inversion broke, the winds increased out of the southwest at 10 miles per hour with gusts out of the south around 20 miles per hour according to a Cal Fire report. They said the fire is threatening homes and timber. Firefighters burned away brush, grass and other vegetation from hills and canyons Sunday to create a containment line about two miles east of the castle, according to the Tribune newspaper in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Air tankers also blanketed the hilltops with a hot-pink retardant, the newspaper reported.
The blaze was mostly moving north, but fire crews were preparing for the winds to shift on Tuesday, said Cal Fire Capt. Lucas Spelman.
It also calls on staff at the State Emergency Operations Center to coordinate state firefighting efforts and allows the use of the National Guard if jurisdictions need more resources. It wasn’t immediately clear how many homes were lost. It’s 60 percent contained.
The wildfire’s south border is three miles from Hearst Castle.
Hundreds of square miles in California have been overcome by wildfires this summer, in part fueled by a prolonged drought.
More than 10,000 firefighters battled wildfires Monday from California’s Central Coast to Sierra Nevada forests or mopped up remnants of destructive blazes beaten into submission up and down the state.
The human-caused blaze reported Sunday has taken off in the last several days due to dry conditions and winds up to 40 miles per hour.
The union that represents the state firefighters who fight fires outside urban and suburban areas blamed low pay as more than 100 members, families and representatives of other unions protested in Sacramento on Monday.
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The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Tuesday that the blaze has charred almost 58 square miles of brush in San Luis Obispo and Monterey counties.
