Soberanes Fire at 3,000 acres, threatens Carmel Highlands.

Shifting winds and steep terrain are making the Soberanes Fire a difficult one for firefighters to control. The fire broke out at Garrapata State Park Friday morning at about 8:45am, and spread to nearly 2,000 acres by midnight. 

Saturday afternoon around 2pm, the fire had burned about 3,000 acres and was still 0-percent contained.

It spread first toward the south and southeast, threatening homes on Garrapata Ridge and Palo Colorado. Firefighting resources focused on those neighborhoods Friday night and Saturday morning, but by 2pm Saturday, the fire had shifted direction, moving north and northeast toward Carmel Highlands and the inland portion of Palo Corona Regional Park. 

At about 2pm Saturday, officials issued an evacuation warning to Carmel Highlands residents, as far north as Mal Paso Creek. 

Palo Colorado and Garrapata Ridge are under mandatory evacuation orders, though members of about 15 households have stayed behind to defend their property for now, according to a sheriff's deputy. 

Because of the challenging terrain, fire trucks can't readily access the fire, says John Owens, assistant chief with the San Benito-Monterey Cal Fire Unit. Instead, firefighting teams have been relying on hand crews, aircraft and bulldozers to battle the blaze. 

Bulldozers have been carving roads and fire breaks through Doud Ranch, the Big Sur property immediately south of Garrapata State Park. 

About 25 cattle are unaccounted for as of Saturday afternoon, and Doud family members were unable to locate them in the smoky haze. A firefighter reported seeing the animals safe and near a spring; family members are delivering hay for the cattle in case they can't be safely removed from the property today, says Lindsey LaVelle, rancher John Doud's girlfriend.

"The cattle are probably five miles back," LaVelle says. "But it was too foggy to see them."