Deadly California wildfire threatens Big Sur coast
A blaze that has scorched some 43,000 acres (17,400 hectares) and destroyed dozens of homes near California’s famed Big Sur coast was sparked by an illegal, unattended camp fire in a state park, authorities said on Tuesday.
The so-called Soberanes Fire, which erupted on July 22, began as a small blaze, 2 feet (60 cm) in diameter, ignited by unknown individuals in a section of Garrapata State Park that was closed to camping and campfires, according to U.S. Forest Service spokesman Don Jaques. No arrests have been made, he added.
The more than 5,450 fire personnel battling the blaze have been able to draw containment lines – a measure of how much of its perimeter has been cleared by fire crews of unburned vegetation – around only 18 percent of the wildfire so far.
Steep, mountainous terrain as well as hot, dry conditions have hampered efforts to quell the fire tearing through drought-parched chaparral, grass and timber. (Reuters)
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