Firefighters battled a wildfire in the rugged mountains along Big Sur on Saturday, forcing hundreds of residents on this precarious stretch of California coast to evacuate and authorities to close their main highway.
The fire started Friday night in a steep canyon and quickly spread out to sea , fanned by strong winds of up to 80 km/h. The fire burned at least 6 square miles of scrub and redwood trees , said Cecile Juliette, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection .
“The fire aligned with the wind and the terrain and that gave the fire a lot of energy to make a great run,” the spokeswoman said.
About 500 residents were contacted by authorities, urging them to evacuate the sparsely populated area between Carmel and Big Sur . More than 250 firefighters from multiple agencies and volunteer groups, aided by water jets, contained 5% of the fire.
Authorities closed a section of Highway 1 with no estimated time for reopening. The two-lane highway along Big Sur is prone to closures due to fires and mudslides from heavy rains that caused parts of the highway to collapse last year and in 2017.
Evicted people shared dramatic images of flames burning behind the iconic Bixby Bridge on social media . The tall stretch of concrete has been the backdrop for many car commercials, movies and TV shows, most recently the HBO drama “Big Little Lies.”
Strong winds were reported in the San Francisco Bay Area overnight, toppling trees and power lines and causing outages to at least 18,000 Pacific Gas & Electric customers in the region, the utility said. There were no immediate reports that any people were injured.
In Sonoma County , firefighters extinguished a 5-acre fire at Geyser Peak, where gusts of more than 90 mph were recorded. In the Sierra Nevada , winds exceeded 140 mph (226 km/h) near the summit of Kirkwood Mountain Resort , causing several lifts to close.
In southern California , a maximum gust of 90 mph (144 km/h) was recorded in the mountains east of Santa Clarita . High winds developed throughout the region, downing trees and power lines.