As the Soberanes Fire devastates homes and wildlands, residents and firefighters weigh in.

A wet fog socked in Palo Colorado Canyon on the morning of Aug. 5, burn scars appearing only occasionally through the gray drizzle. The most threatening edge of the Soberanes Fire had moved east to near Cachagua, and at the Mid-Coast Fire Brigade station, Chief Cheryl Goetz was grappling with practical matters of how to get residents back home. The biggest issue at hand: how to get dumpsters in for people to safely toss all the spoiled food from their freezers.

“There’s science experiments in some of the refrigerators that I don’t even want to know about,” Goetz says.

As of press time, the fire had burned 68,698 acres and was 50-percent contained. But the blaze continues to be unpredictable. Palo Colorado residents were allowed to return home to assess damage (and potentially move back) Aug. 8. That came barely 24 hours after officials ordered Big Sur residents to evacuate in the middle of the night, then downgraded that evacuation order to a warning.

As the firefight continues, we continue to tell the stories of people affected, examining what’s been lost and how pros do their demanding jobs in the field.

Fire officials expect full containment by Aug. 31.