The property toll claimed by a deadly blaze near California’s Big Sur coast has grown as the fire threatened hundreds of more homes and forced several state parks to close at the height of summer tourist season.
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“That could possibly slow the spread of the fire for the next few days, because with the change in the wind, it would be blowing the fire back into itself”, said Elizabeth Marks, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).
Fifty-seven homes and 11 outbuildings have been destroyed in the fire, and a private bulldozer operator fighting the blaze was killed after the vehicle rolled over Tuesday night.
More than 4,200 firefighters were battling the wildfire that fire officials expect to linger until the end of August. That’s even though the only signs of the blaze were fire trucks and an occasional whiff of smoke along the famously winding and scenic Highway 1.
Flames were concentrated in forested ridges above the summer fog line along the coast. “This is when we make our money”.
As the Chronicle reports, all state parks in the area are closed to camping and day use, though most of Big Sur’s resorts remain open. Reagan reportedly suffered fatal injuries when his machine overturned on a steep slope. The fire was at 29,877 acres late Friday.
“Fire behavior has greatly diminished”, he said in an update shortly after 7 p.m. Friday.
Other wildfires burned elsewhere in the West.
The Oregonian/OregonLive reports (http://bit.ly/2aldJKY ) that the fire, which has burned almost eight-tenths of a square mile since it was discovered Thursday, has closed the trail but not the entire park.
An assistance center is scheduled to open next Friday for residents affected by the fire. Till now, it is predicted that the fire moved over 42 square miles and destroyed 34 homes, 350 properties and 2,000 buildings are at risk.
Acting California Governor Tom Torlakson, filling in for Jerry Brown, who is at the Democratic National Convention, declared a state of emergency on Tuesday for the counties where the fires are located.
State Forester Bill Crapser said the fire in Uinta County was detected Thursday and grew quickly, burning about 3 square miles (8 square kilometers) in a matter of hours.
In Wyoming, favorable weather allowed firefighters to take the offensive against a wildfire threatening seasonal homes.
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The so-called Soberanes Fire erupted last Friday just south of the upscale oceanside town of Carmel-by-the-Sea and has raged through more than 31,000 acres (12,545 hectares) ofdrought-parched chaparral, tall grass and timber into the Los Padres National Forest.
