Orders to evacuate Big Sur expand as Timber Fire grows to nearly 2,500 acres; Highway 1 is closed.

More areas of Big Sur are now under evacuation orders as the Timber Fire has continued to grow, mapped at 2,478 acres as of 11am, Tuesday, Aug. 11. Evacuation warnings have also been issued for additional areas.

At 2pm on Tuesday, Caltrans announced that a 10-mile stretch of Highway 1, from two miles north of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to the Fernwood Resort, was closed to support fire operations. They advised travelers to use U.S. 101 as an alternate route.

A new order for evacuation was issued around 12:30pm, Tuesday, for Zone MRY-F023, which is south of Andrew Molera State Park, and includes a portion of Big Sur Village and Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. It hugs the eastern side of Highway 1.

It joins four zones already under orders—MRY-F025, MRY-F026, MRY-F027 and MRY-F028-A.

Areas under evacuation warning include MRY-F022, MRY-F024, MRY-F029 and MRY-F028-B.

You can find which zone you're in here.

The fire, which began Saturday, Aug. 8, was only 5 percent contained as of Tuesday. Cal Fire estimates 259 structures are threatened. Assigned resources included 36 engines, seven water tenders, eight helicopters, five dozers and 13 hand crews. The total number of personnel was reported at 480.

Tuesday morning Los Padres National Forest officials stated that the northern and eastern portions of the fire remained active overnight, mostly above the marine layer. It continued to hold on the eastern side of Highway 1.

Firefighters worked to protect structures near Highway 1 in the Ventana area by clearing brush and removing other potential threats to properties. They also secured access for fire fighters and firefighting apparatus.

Night-flying helicopters were prevented from flying overnight due to the heavy marine layer, hindering their ability to access dip sites.

The County of Monterey set up an evacuation shelter at Carmel Middle School on Monday, Aug. 10, and on Tuesday they co-located a previously set up temporary evacuation point inside Big Sur with the evacuation center. Anyone evacuating can get information on the fire, resource referrals and assistance with planning next steps.

A list of hotels offering special rates for evacuees is available on the See Monterey website.