An evacuation warning issued Sunday evening, in response to an expected wind event that officials fear will breathe new life into the 38-day-old Soberanes Fire, had firefighters Monday preparing for greater activity in the Big Sur area of the Ventana Wilderness and testing fire personnel’s lines of defense.
“Crews are strengthening the suppression line from just south of Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park down to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park,” said Ludie Bond, a public information officer at the fire’s Toro Park command center. “With the shifting winds, fire activity will pick up today.”
Bond said personnel would be working through the night to monitor the Soberanes Fire incident in the high-wind area.
On the southwestern flank of the Soberanes Fire Sunday, helicopters dropped fire retardant along the ridge line in the Cold Springs area in an effort to fortify the lines already established by hand crews and dozers. But as winds increase past 25 mph, the situation becomes unsafe, said Bond.
The latest evacuation warning area in Big Sur is bounded on the north by Castro Canyon, on the south by the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, on the east by North Coast Ridge Road and on the west by Highway 1.