Update: Fire spreads to more than 6,000 acres near Big Sur, leading to Highway 1 and parks closures

Cassandra Garibay
·2 min read

Update, 5 p.m. Thursday

The Dolan Fire had grown to 6,780 acres as of Thursday evening, according to a Sacreamento Bee wildfire map that collects data from the US Department of the Interior, Office of Wildland Fire, IRWIN, NIFC, NASA, NOAA, and ESRI and is updated every 15 minutes.

The Los Padres National Forest Service had not released an update on the status of the fire since Thursday morning.

Original story:

The Dolan Fire near Big Sur held at 2,500 acres and was 0% contained as of Thursday morning, according to the Los Padres National Forest Service.

Highway 1 remained closed from Ragged Point in San Luis Obispo County to Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Monterey County, according to CalTrans.

The area east of Dolan Canyon was evacuated Wednesday, and many state parks in and near Big Sur were closed.

According to the California Department of Parks and Recreation, the following parks are closed for camping, hiking and day use:

  • John Little State Natural Reserve,

  • Limekiln State Park,

  • Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park,

  • Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park,

  • Andrew Molera State Park,

  • Point Sur State Historic Park,

  • Garrapata State Park, and

  • Point Lobos State Natural Reserve.

Officials believe the Dolan Fire was started intentionally around 8 p.m. Tuesday in John Little State Nature Reserve south of Slates Hot Springs.

The Monterey County Sheriff’s Office arrested 30-year-old Fresno resident Ivan Geronimo Gomez on suspicion of arson of forest lands, according to a Sheriff’s Office Facebook post on Wednesday.

The Los Padres National Forest Service tweeted that smoke inversion prevented firefighters from using air resources Wednesday.

The fire was burning through steep terrain and had lots of fuel, but little wind, according to the national forest service.

The Dolan Fire has contributed to smoky skies throughout San Luis Obispo County — and the worst air quality in the nation in parts of the county, according to air quality monitoring company IQ Air.

The River Fire and Carmel Fire in south Monterey County have also been a factor in the dangerous increase in particulate matter in San Luis Obispo County.

The River Fire began Sunday and had grown to 33,653 acres as of Thursday morning, Cal Fire reported. The wildfire near Salinas had destroyed six structures, damaged two and continued to threaten 2,500 more as of Thursday morning, according to the agency.

The River fire was 7% contained and burning in all directions Thursday morning. Full containment is expected by Aug. 30, according to Cal Fire.

As of Thursday, four firefighter have had minor injuries as a result of that fire, according to Cal Fire.

The Carmel Fire near Carmel had grown to 4,385 acres as of Thursday morning and remained 0% contained, Cal Fire said. Three structures were destroyed and 311 were threatened as of Thursday.