As the Timber Fire continues to burn at only 23 percent contained, the Plaskett Fire erupted to the south on Wednesday, Aug. 26, two miles east of Plaskett and just a little northeast of Gorda.
Firefighters responded to the vegetation fire around 9:30am. It spread to about 10 acres by 10am, quickly jumping to 40 acres, with a potential for 500 acres. The fire was attacked by numerous aircraft, including air tankers and helicopters, working to prevent its spread.
Around 1:30pm an evacuation order was in place for the area where the fire was burning, with evacuation warnings called for the areas just to the north of the fire zone, which includes Plaskett and Sand Dollar Beach, and to the south, including the area of Treebones Resort and Gorda.
Also as of Wednesday afternoon, the Timber Fire has grown since Tuesday from 16,000 acres to more than 17,817, and is considered 23 percent contained, with just over 660 structures threatened.
The Monterey County Sheriff's Office announced that Highway 1 between Andrew Molera State Park and Deetjen's Big Sur Inn will close at 1pm, Thursday, Aug. 27, for backburning operations.