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The Timber and Plaskett Fires in Monterey County have burned over 50,000 acres near Big Sur, bringing smoke and some evacuation warnings to San Luis Obispo County.
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As of Tuesday morning, the Timber Fire remained steady at 25,190 acres and was 22% contained, according to Watch Duty.
The Plaskett Fire, which surpassed the older Timber Fire in size, reached 27,580 acres and was 1% contained, according to Watch Duty.
The wildfires forced the closure of Highway 1 from mile marker 56, south of the Little Sur River, on the north end to mile marker 0.09, north of the San Luis Obispo County line, on the south end. No estimated time for reopening the road has been provided, according to Cal Fire San Benito-Monterey Unit’s Facebook post.
Current Southern California wildfires
This map shows wildfires that have been updated within the past 7 days from the Integrated Reporting of Wildland-Fire Information (IRWIN) and the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). The larger the circle, the larger the wildfire by acres. Data is from the US Department of the Interior, Office of Wildland Fire, IRWIN, NIFC, NASA, NOAA and ESRI.
Steve Wilson [email protected]
The Plaskett Fire grew in areas in Fort Hunter Liggett that have not seen fire in over 50 years, according to a Watch Duty report. Steep terrain and thick fuels were the primary driver of fire behavior.
Crews overnight made progress along the northern edge, using firing operations along the Slick Rock road system, while air resources supported suppression efforts along the southern edge near Los Burros Road, Cal Fire said.
Structure defense and protection measure operations happened overnight, with the plan to hold the Plaskett Fire in the Willow Creek drainage to the south, according to the Watch Duty report on Monday night.
As for the Timber Fire, fire behavior was moderated during the previous operational period, the post said. Crews are continuing to strengthen established control lines and mop up the Highway 1 corridor.
“All divisions continue some of the great success work they’ve done in the last several days,” Operations Section Chief Neil Gamboa said in the latest operations update video for the Timber Fire. “Some of the focus today will be down in Division Bravo, keeping that fire’s edge in its footprints, utilizing aircraft and crews.”
Resources were also connecting completed dozer line around other portions of the incident to help minimize inland spread, according to Cal Fire.
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No new evacuation orders or warnings have been issued since the last update for both wildfires.
Wildfire smoke brings air quality advisory in SLO County
An air quality health advisory was issued by the SLO County Air Pollution Control District for Monday and Tuesday, and Morro Bay, SLO and cities in South County were facing a reprieve from smoke impacts on Tuesday morning.
Air quality was expected to remain in the moderate range countywide Tuesday, although localized periods of Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups conditions were possible, the SLO County Air Pollution Control District said in a Facebook post.
Up in North County, the air quality index was in the 50s for Paso Robles. Atascadero’s air quality index was 75, according to Air Now.
SLO County areas are evacuation zones due to the Plaskett Fire
The following zones were still ordered to evacuate around the Timber and Plaskett fires due to an “immediate threat to life” as of Tuesday morning:
- MRY-D082
- MRY-D089
- MRY-D090
- MRY-D091
- MRY-F015-A
- MRY-F015-B
- MRY-F015-C
- MRY-F016
- MRY-F017
- MRY-F020
- MRY-F022
- MRY-F023-A
- MRY-F023-B
- MRY-F025
- MRY-F028-B
- MRY-F028-C
- MRY-F029
- MRY-F031
- MRY-F034
- MRY-F035
- MRY-F036
- MRY-F037
- MRY-F038
- MRY-G012-A
- MRY-G016
Evacuation warnings were issued for the following areas, including three in SLO County. In these areas, there was a potential threat to life and/or property. Those who require additional time to evacuate, and those with pets and livestock were told to leave now:
- MRY-D078
- MRY-D084
- MRY-D085
- MRY-D086
- MRY-D088
- MRY-F014
- MRY-F027-B
- MRY-F028-A
- MRY-F028-D
- MRY-F030-A
- MRY-F030-B
- MRY-F031-B
- MRY-F032-A
- MRY-F032-B
- MRY-F033
- MRY-G011-A
- MRY-G012-B
- MRY-G015
- SLC-001
- SLC-002
- SLC-003
Shelter-in-place orders were issued in several areas around the Timber Fire:
- MRY-F018
- MRY-F019
- MRY-F012-A
- MRY-F021-B
- MRY-F024
- MRY-F026
- MRY-F027-A
Those under a shelter-in-place order who choose to stay must be prepared to sustain themselves for at least a week. Those who cannot self-sustain for seven days should leave the area immediately.
Evacuation shelters for the Timber and Plaskett fires are at the Carmel Mission Inn Conference Room at 3665 Rio Road in Carmel and the Cambria Veterans Memorial Building at 1000 Main Street in Cambria.
This story was originally published September 1, 2026 at 10:31 AM with the headline “Plaskett Fire outpaces Timber Fire burning in Big Sur. See latest progress update.”
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