Timber Fire in California's Big Sur grows overnight; weather helps firefighters increase containment

The Timber Fire in California's Big Sur continued to grow Thursday, surpassing 4,000 acres as crews worked overnight to increase containment, helped by weather conditions.

The U.S. Forest Service said the fire, burning in the northern portion of the Los Padres National Forest, has burned 4,245 acres with 7% containment as of 9 a.m. Thursday. Overnight, firefighters worked to increase containment on the southern end of the fire along Partington Ridge toward Highway 1 and cut off the fire's southeastern spread, the Forest Service said in a morning update.

Multiple engines were assigned to protect structures west of Highway 1 overnight, while on the northern edge of the fire, crews completed a containment line from Coast Ridge Road down to the Big Sur River, the update said.  

The heavy marine layer overnight helped firefighters as humidity rose to nearly 90%, although the fire continued to burn actively in higher elevations above the marine layer. The weather system brought showers and thunderstorms into the area and has moved east. Forecasters say while the heavy marine layer is expected to remain over the next few days, a warming and drying trend is anticipated into the weekend. 

Highway 1 remained closed for public and firefighter safety between mile marker 45.1 near the Big Sur Bakery on the northern side and mile marker 37 at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park on the southern end. 

As of Thursday morning, evacuation orders were in effect for the following zones:

• MRY-F023
• MRY-F025
• MRY-F026
• MRY-F027
• MRY-F028-A

Evacuation warnings were in effect for the following zones:

• MRY-F021-B  
• MRY-F022
• MRY-F024
• MRY-F028-B
• MRY-F029

An evacuation shelter was located at Carmel Middle School at 4830 Carmel Valley Road in Carmel. Hotels in Monterey County were offering evacuation rates for residents and visitors in need. The county provided additional emergency information about the Timber Fire for residents on its website.

Several California State Parks in the Big Sur area remained closed on Thursday, including Andrew Molera State Park, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, and Point Sur State Historic Park. 

More than 1,400 firefighting personnel were battling the Timber Fire, which began at about 8:30 p.m. on August 8 southeast of Loma Vista.

The cause is still under investigation.