Iconic California highway to reopen after wildfire ravaged coastal paradise

Highway 1 through Big Sur will reopen Saturday afternoon as firefighters gain ground on the massive Timber Fire after more than two weeks of flames.

Hotels, restaurants and other businesses have already begun reopening as the region slowly returns to life, while crews continue battling the sprawling blaze that has scorched more than 7,500 acres in Monterey County.

“The road will be open later this afternoon. There will be the public in there later this afternoon; that’s something new that hasn’t happened since the fire started just over two weeks ago,” Cal Fire Operations Section Chief Mike Wink said at a briefing.

Authorities have allowed increased access along Highway 1 through some of Big Sur’s most popular areas, although a section of the winding coastal highway between Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park was expected to remain closed for several more days.

Restaurants and hotels began reopening Thursday and Friday, with more expected to follow Saturday as officials ease restrictions in areas where the threat to homes and businesses has largely passed.

“We are trending in the right direction,” Cal Fire Battalion Chief Josh Silveira told Mercury News. “Everybody here is working really hard. It’s a slow and steady mentality. We’ll take that any day of the week.”

The progress comes as the Timber Fire remains just 29% contained, according to a state tracker.

Containment lines near Highway 1 have been holding as crews concentrate efforts along the iconic roadway and use aircraft to attack the fire with water and retardant.

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The fire, however, continues to push northeast into the Los Padres National Forest, away from the coast and highway and into rough terrain that could make firefighting more difficult.

Overnight intelligence flights confirmed two new areas of increased fire activity on the eastern side of the blaze.

Still, Wink said crews have been able to keep the fire’s intensity down as it approaches the Big Sur River.

“We have low-intensity fire that’s slowing backing down to the Big Sur River,” Wink said. “We’re keeping that intensity low and getting it down to the water’s edge.”

The recovery has also brought power back to parts of Big Sur.

PG&E crews replaced burned electrical poles and wires Friday after some locations went without electricity for 13 days.

Earlier this week, emergency officials lifted evacuation orders in three of the five areas that had been under them.

The Timber Fire is the third-largest wildfire to burn anywhere in California this year, but it has so far caused a strikingly small amount of structural damage: zero buildings have burned.

There have also been no reported injuries or fatalities.