Big Sur fires: More of Highway 1 to close today

The closure of Highway 1 due to fires in the Big Sur area will be extended as of 5 p.m. today, according to Tina Rose, a spokeswoman for the Monterey Ranger District of the Los Padres National Forest.

A mandatory evacuation notice will go into effect today from one mile south of the coastal Limekiln State Park to Partington Ridge Road (near Nepenthe’s restaurant) in the north. This is a no-travel zone, even to residents and people with passes, according to a release from the forest agency.

Rose explained that the evacuation is mandatory because firefighters plan to create a “burning out,” or fire line, in an effort to cut off the blaze at its southern reaches. “There are about 30 structures in that stretch,” Rose said, noting that it wouldn’t be safe for anyone to be in the area during this procedure.

The closure area includes Esalen Institute, Big Creek Reserve, the town of Lucia, Immaculate Heart Hermitage and Limekiln State Park.

Businesses such as Post Ranch Inn and the Ventana Inn & Spa in the Big Sur Valley are open, though many visitors have canceled their stays, according to Big Sur Chamber of Commerce spokesman Stan Russell.

As of 8 a.m. today, the Basin Complex Fire, the one that started june 21 and is burning closest to Big Sur, was only 3% contained, with about 47,500 acres burned.

This past weekend my colleague Peter Viles snapped this photo of a smoky — or is it just the usual fog? — view of Big Sur from 17-Mile Drive along Pebble Beach. He told me that ashes and smoke were definitely in the air as he toured Carmel.

– Mary Forgione, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

[Photo: Peter Viles / Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1, 2008 at 1:48 pm by Mary Forgione and is filed under Big Sur, California's Central Coast, Monterey Peninsula, News, Tips & Advice, Northern California, San Simeon & Hearst Castle, Weekend Getaways. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.