Soberanes Fire grows to 6,500 acres.

The Soberanes Fire keeps growing in all directions as of about 6:30pm Saturday. Cal Fire reports 6,500 acres are burned, and the fire is now 5-percent contained.

Earlier Saturday afternoon, flames could be seen leaping up ridges both north and south of Garrapata State Park. 

The fire is still most threatening on its southern edge near Palo Colorado, the highest concentration of affected homes. An estimated 1,650 structures are threatened, including the Palo Colorado and Garrapata Ridge area, as well as Carmel Highlands to the north.

Carmel Highlands is under an evacuation warning, but the fire is still growing fastest to the south. Cal Fire Captain Lucas Spelman says it's unlikely Carmel Highlands residents will be advised to evacuate tonight based on the behavior of the fire, but should be ready due to the proximity. 

"The [evacuation warning] will go through the night unless something major happens," Spelman says. 

"The fire is mostly burning to the south; it’s just the normal swell of the fire that’s going north, it’s not making runs that way." 

Firefighters report they are holding good lines on the eastern side of the fire near Rancho San Carlos, relying on strong air support. 

While the fire has moved closer to Highway 1 throughout the day, Spelman says that's within the normal outward growth of a fire, which swells in all directions; it's mostly moving parallel to Highway 1, rather than toward the highway. 

One outbuilding has been destroyed in the fire, Spelman says. 

Spelman expects another hard night of firefighting, due to a high-pressure system that's keeping the marine layer offshore and not delivering much-needed moisture. 

"We just aren’t having overnight recoveries too much, where we normally would in this area," Spelman says. 

"We're not getting humidity at night from the marine layer, so fuel is not absorbing moisture overnight, which makes it more volatile." (By "fuel," he means the maritime chaparral, redwoods, and other vegetation that becomes fuel in the path of a wildfire.) 

Local Cal Fire officials handed over command of the Soberanes Fire to state Cal Fire officials around noon today.

They're setting up an incident command post at Toro Park, where hundreds of fires will camp as they rotate through shifts fighting the fire. 

Toro Park, as a result, is currently closed to the public. 

Garrapata State Park remains closed to the public as well. The fire originated in the popular Garrapata State Park before 9am Friday morning. Cal Fire officials are investigating, and Spelman says it's too soon to release any official information about potential causes or even a precise location where it originated. 

But one State Parks official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, says the fire started on top of the Rocky Ridge Trail, a popular hiking destination—not in the redwood-lined Soberanes Canyon as originally reported. 

He suspects the cause was an illegal campfire along the trail, a theory which remains unconfirmed by Cal Fire investigators at this time.