Highway 1 through Big Sur is set to reopen Saturday afternoon, marking a major step toward normalcy as firefighters make progress against the Timber Fire after more than two weeks of burning.
The gradual return is already underway, with hotels, restaurants and other local businesses beginning to welcome people back while crews continue to fight the wildfire, which has burned 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 during a briefing.
Officials have expanded access along Highway 1 through several of Big Sur’s best-known stretches, though the portion of the coastal route between Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park was still expected to stay closed for several more days.
Some restaurants and lodging properties reopened Thursday and Friday, and more were expected to follow on Saturday as authorities loosen restrictions in areas where the danger to homes and businesses has largely eased.
“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.”
Despite the improved access, the Timber Fire remains a significant challenge, with containment at just 29%, according to a state tracker.
Firefighters have kept containment lines near Highway 1 intact while focusing resources along the famed roadway and using aircraft to drop water and retardant on the flames.
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.
