Big Sur Fire: Reports of home destruction on Pfeiffer Ridge.

The vegetation fire that broke out in Big Sur last night has already spread to at least 300 acres. The fire was first reported to Cal Fire 11:50pm, and by this morning approximately 180 firefighters were on the scene.

The fire is centered along Pfeiffer Ridge, Front Hill Road and Sycamore Canyon, and residents from those areas have been ordered to evacuate. A representative from Cal Fire said that there are no known injuries to date, and that at least 50 homes have been evacuated, but could only confirm damage to two of them.

(For the first report on the Big Sur Fire, including eye-witness reports on the evacuation, home loss and more, click to "Growing fire in Big Sur scorches houses on Pfeiffer Ridge, heads west.")

Eyewitness accounts indicate that number could climb significantly, according to Diana Ballantyne, general manager at Fernwood. She said that a firefighter that she spoke to told her that every home along the Pfeiffer Ridge area he was fighting was completely laid to waste.

“There was nothing left,” she reported him saying.

Nineteen engines are working the fire—six from Cal Fire and 13 from various departments across the county. There are also six hand crews, one bulldozer, and two water tenders (large tanks that serve as mobile fire hydrants). Cal Fire also confirmed that multiple planes and helicopters are working the fire, but were unable to give an exact number at this time.

The fire is reportedly burning through several different types of terrain, from brushy chaparral, redwoods and oaks, and riparian habitat like the sycamore trees in Sycamore Canyon.

No cause of the fire has yet been confirmed, but Ballantyne says that she heard from firefighters that it started somewhere between the Pfeiffer Lodge group camps and Buzzards Roost. “And it just took off up Pfeiffer Ridge real fast,” she says.

Ballantyne has evacuated Fernwood’s guests, but says she will stay open for locals and firefighters.