Willow Fire near Big Sur reaches 13% containment as marine layer helps control spread
About a week after the Willow Fire sparked, the blaze burning near Big Sur was at 13% containment as of Wednesday morning, according to a news release submitted by a multi-agency incident command team.
The wildfire started on the morning of June 17 and has burned about 2,877 acres total, officials said in a news release sent by the Los Padres National Forest, Monterey County Sheriff’s Office and California Incident Management Team Information II.
As of Wednesday, the Willow Fire was burning in the Ventana Wilderness northwest of the Arroyo Seco Recreation Area close to the Tassajara Zen Center and Hot Springs.
So far, 100 homes and 25 commercial structures have been threatened, but none were damaged, the release said.
The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has issued an evacuation order for Tassajara Road northwest to China Camp Campground in the Los Padres National Forest, including tributary forest routes and the Tassajara Zen Center.
The agency upgraded its evacuation warning for Zone WF-3a — which encompasses all areas of the Arroyo Seco Road west of Woodtick Canyon, including Arroyo Seco Campground, Rocky Creek Road and Camp Cawatre — to an order.
A total of 526 emergency response personnel were on the scene of the blaze Wednesday.
Firefighters have benefited recently from cooler temperatures that have helped control the spread of flames, officials said in the release.
A marine layer also hovered over portions of the fire, helping to control the blaze, the release said.
“Forecasted weather and predicted fire behavior allowed firefighters to begin constructing direct control lines where it is safe to do so,” officials said in the release. “Direct control lines are constructed along the fires edge leaving no unburned fuel between the fire and the control line.”
The fire is not expected to grow in size over the next day or so, officials said, but the weather will become dryer later in the week.
“A developing high-pressure system off the Pacific Northwest coast will bring warmer and dryer conditions at the end of the week and into the weekend,” the release said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to the release.
This story was originally published June 23, 2021 at 11:44 AM with the headline "Willow Fire near Big Sur reaches 13% containment as marine layer helps control spread."
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