More than a week after a massive wildland blaze erupted, the Soberanes Fire in Monterey County near Big Sur has now grown to engulf 33,000 acres and remains just 15 percent contained.

As of late Friday, fire officials added the fire destroyed more than 50 structures and led to at least one death, as more than 4,000 firefighters continued to struggle to get control of the situation.

Nearly 400 Evacuated, Thousands More in Danger

Roughly 350 residents have already been forced to leave their homes and an evacuation warning remains in place for some 2,000 other residents. Sometime during the week, fire officials identified a private contractor who died while battling the blaze when his bulldozer overturned on him as 35-year-old Robert Oliver Reagan III.

Firemen are battling the blaze using both air and ground equipment. Of the properties already destroyed, authorities reported a breakdown of 41 homes and 10 outbuildings.

Weather Hampering Effort

In the coming days, crews expect to continue to face sweltering conditions with low humidity, combined with the areas steep and rugged terrain.

With that, investigators don't expect to have the blaze under control until the end of August. The entire county has already been declared under a state of emergency.

As of now, all trails and roads leading into the Los Padres National Forest are closed, in addition to all state parks in the vicinity.

All week long, firefighters have been flooding into the California area trying to lend a hand in getting the blaze under control. Palo Colorado Canyon, on the west side of the fire, is where the most houses have burned to the ground because it's located close to where the Soberanes Fire first ignited.

Residents there are reported to have had only one way out, Palo Colorado Road, as they fled for safety.

Basic Information (Info Obtained from Inciweb)

Current as of7/30/2016, 9:47:20 PM
Incident TypeWildfire
CauseUnder Investigation
Date of OriginFriday July 22nd, 2016 approx. 08:45 AM
LocationSoberanes Creek, Garrapata State Park, north of Palo Colorado/Big Sur.
Incident CommanderTodd Derum - Cal Fire IMT 4 With Gary Helming, USFS


Current Situation

Total Personnel5,343
Size35,550 Acres
Percent of Perimeter Contained15%
Fuels InvolvedChaparral, tall grass and timber
Significant EventsSlightly cooler weather, but the fire remained active on the eastern and southern sides of the fire.

Outlook

RemarksCurrently: 25,079 acres is on Cal Fire - San Benito-Monterey Unit and 10,461 acres is on Los Padres National Forest - Monterey Ranger District

Current Weather

Weather ConcernsMarine layer remains fairly shallow at around 2000 feet along the west side of the fire and 1500 feet in Carmel Valley but not impacting the main fire area. Continued hot and dry across most of the fire area above 1500 feet except cooler along Highway 1 with good humidity recovery. General winds remain from the southwest and pushing smoke towards the Carmel Valley helibase and higher populated areas. Overall trend for Sunday will be slight cooling and higher humidity. Longer range trends suggest a seasonal weather pattern with light winds.

Tonight's temperature is expected to be between 65 to 75 degrees. Southwest winds will be from 3 - 6 mph and relative humidity between 20 - 40% above the marine layer and 60 - 80% in the lower slopes below 1000 feet.


The Fire Maps & Satellite Photo

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