By admin 
Firefighting crews made progress on the two wildfires in Big Sur, with the Plaskett Fire close to 50% containment after Labor Day weekend.
Read more Sheriff identifies the five victims killed on the ground in MIA cargo plane crash
The fires have burned 55,242 acres, according to Cal Fire.
The Plaskett Fire, which started on Aug. 26 near Gorda, reached 29,862 acres with 47% containment as of Tuesday morning. That’s up from 37% containment on Monday.
The west side of the fire by the Big Sur coast was looking “really good,” after the night operations crew did not see any glows or heat from the perimeter, according to Operations Section Chief Nick Cleary.
Crews planned to continue containing and making road repairs on the east side, off Coast Road and Burrow Road on Tuesday morning.
“In the totality of the whole fire of how we’re going to address all the fire suppression repair because with the end state when we leave in a week, we really want to return the landscape and have this set up for any kind of mud and debris flows when you guys get your winter this year,” Cleary said in the operational update.
Structure defense and protection of critical infrastructure remain priorities, and strategic firing operations and aviation support continue to assist containment efforts, according to Cal Fire.
As for the Timber Fire, the blaze held steady at 27% containment, growing only slightly to at 25,380 acres with isolated heat sources re-igniting under the warming and drying trend, Cal Fire said on the Timber Fire’s incident update page.
Read more Two Sacramento-area credit unions plan to merge with $2 billion in assets
The northwest portion of the fire was still the highest threat to property, with most of the western perimeter along Highway 1 remaining in mop-up and patrol status.
Warming and drying conditions and poor overnight humidity recovery, however, were not helping the cause, as a heat advisory was in effect for Wednesday and Thursday, according to Cal Fire.
Highway 1 remained closed for 19 miles from the San Luis Obispo County line to Kirk Creek Campground.
Which areas are under evacuation warnings, orders?
Both the Timber and Plaskett fires resulted in evacuation orders and warnings in Monterey and SLO counties, and have remained in place throughout the long weekend.
As of Tuesday morning, Cal Fire reported that zones under evacuation order for the fires included:
- MRY-D082
- MRY-D089
- MRY-D090
- MRY-D091
- MRY-F015-A
- MRY-F015-B
- MRY-F015-C
- MRY-F020
- MRY-F023-B
- MRY-F028-B
- MRY-F028-C
- MRY-F029
- MRY-F031-A
- FHL-G011
- FHL-G012-B
- FHL-G014
- FHL-G017
- FHL-G018
- FHL-G019
- FHL-G023
- FHL-G026
- FHL-G028
- MRY-F034
- MRY-F035
- MRY-F036
- MRY-F037
- MRY-F038
- MRY-G016
Zones under evacuation warnings included:
- MRY-D078
- MRY-D084
- MRY-D085
- MRY-D086
- MRY-D088
- MRY-F014
- MRY-F016
- MRY-F017
- MYR-F018
- MRY-F019
- MRY-F022
- MRY-F021-A
- MRY-F021-B
- MRY-F023-A
- MRY-F024
- MRY-F025
- MRY-F026
- MRY-F027-A
- MRY-F027-B
- MRY-F028-A
- MRY-F028-D
- MRY-F030-A
- MRY-F030-B
- MRY-F031-B
- MRY-F032-A
- MRY-F032-B
- FHL-G004
- FHL-G005
- FHL-G008
- FHL-G009
- FHL-G012-A
- FHL-G012-C
- FHL-G015
- FHL-G016
- FHL-G016-B
- FHL-G020
- FHL-G021
- FHL-G022
- FHL-G024
- FHL-G025
- FHL-G027
- FHL-G029
- MRY-F033
- MRY-F039
- MRY-G015
- SLC-001
- SLC-002
- SLC-003
This story was originally published September 8, 2026 at 10:38 AM with the headline “Containment on Plaskett Fire nears 50% as crews make progress in Big Sur.”
Read more Fire truck returns to east Folsom after 11 months, thanks to new staffing model