big sur wildfire
Big Sur fire burned at least 15 homes by Monday evening and forced dozens of others to evacuate.
A wildfire that broke out late Sunday night along the Big Sur coast, California, burned at least 15 homes by Monday evening and forced dozens of others to evacuate, fire officials said.

The 500-acre blaze, which started near Pfeiffer Ridge Road in the Los Padres National Forest, was fueled by strong winds and was not at all contained by nightfall Monday. But fire crews were hopeful that calmer conditions could help them make progress overnight.

"Right now, the winds have died down; they were really gusting overnight and this morning," said Los Padres National Forest spokesman Andrew Madsten on Monday afternoon. "Hopefully they will get some containment lines cut now."

Smoke could be seen as far away as Monterey Bay. No injuries have been reported, and fire officials said between 50 and 100 homes were evacuated by Monday evening. The Red Cross set up an evacuation center at the Big Sur Grange.

More than 200 firefighters from three agencies - the US Forest Service, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, and Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade - and at least eight aircraft are battling the fire, which started in a forested area about 30 miles south of Monterey. Among the homes destroyed Sunday night was one belonging to Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade Chief Martha Carstens.

"It's very personal," she told the Monterey County Weekly on Monday. "(The loss) has still not sunk in yet."

Monterey County Sheriff Scott Miller said while he and his crews counted at least 15 destroyed homes in the Pfeiffer Ridge Road area, neighbors and passersby say there are likely far more.

"It's a quick-moving fire - we lost a significant amount of residences in short order," he said.

Miller said the lack of precipitation this year - less than a half-inch since July in an area that normally gets several inches in the fall - is likely part of what fueled the blaze.

"It's just bone-dry out here," he said.

Fire officials are still investigating the cause of the blaze, but Cal Fire spokesman Jonathan Pangburn agreed that unusually dry conditions were a contributing factor. Although temperatures have been cool in Big Sur, humidity has been low.

"We are in the midst of the driest year on record," Pangburn said. "That certainly doesn't help." SFGate