After rapidly expanding in southern Monterey County at the end of August, the Plaskett Fire is proving difficult to contain while firefighters farther north are gaining ground on the weeks-old Timber Fire.
The two wildfires have burned more than 50,000 acres along the Big Sur coast, closing Highway 1 and prompting evacuation orders and warnings in Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties. Cooler temperatures and higher humidity, however, are now giving firefighters more favorable conditions to work in.
After nearly doubling in size over two days, the Plaskett Fire had grown to 28,968 acres and remained 1 percent contained as of Sept. 2, according to Cal Fire. More than 1,500 firefighters are assigned to the blaze, which is burning east of Plaskett Creek in southern Monterey County.
The fire’s expansion pushed it past the older Timber Fire in size earlier this week, but cooler temperatures and higher humidity helped moderate fire behavior overnight Sept. 1.
“Firefighters made good progress during last night’s shift across much of the fire perimeter,” the Los Padres National Forest said in a Sept. 2 update. “Existing lines are holding in the northern portion of the fire, and moderating weather conditions are allowing crews to implement direct suppression tactics where terrain and conditions allow.”
The eastern edge is the biggest challenge.
There, the fire continues to burn toward and into Fort Hunter-Liggett through steep terrain and heavy vegetation in an area that has not experienced significant wildfire in more than 50 years.
“The eastern portion of the fire remains the primary area of concern,” the Forest Service said in an update posted to Facebook on Sept. 2. “Firefighters will continue evaluating opportunities to safely access this area and construct viable containment lines to reduce the potential for additional fire spread.”
California Interagency Incident Management Team 7 took command of the Plaskett Fire on Sept. 1 and is managing it under a full-suppression strategy. Crews are concentrating resources in areas where direct containment is possible while maintaining structure protection and reinforcing contingency lines.
About 30 miles north, firefighters are seeing a different picture on the Timber Fire.
“The fire has remained in its footprint with very little movement,” California Team 3 Operations Section Chief Trainee Neil Gamboa said in a Sept. 2 operations update.
The Timber Fire, which started Aug. 8, was 22 percent contained as of Sept. 2 after weeks of suppression. With fire behavior moderating and crews making progress, regular night operations have been suspended, although firefighters remain available around the clock if conditions change.
Crews are still working around the fire’s perimeter, including areas where firefighters are “trying to insert and go direct where possible and utilize rotary-wing aircraft to help keep that fire in its footprint,” Gamboa said.
Progress elsewhere is allowing firefighters to begin dismantling portions of the sprawling suppression operation.
“Throughout the entire fire, crews are starting to do back haul,” Gamboa said, including removing hoses, pumps, portable tanks and other equipment that is no longer needed.
Both fires continue to disrupt travel and communities along the Big Sur coast. As of 6 a.m. Sept. 3, Caltrans planned to reopen northern Highway 1 from just south of Little Sur River to just south of Big Sur Post Office. The road is expected to remain closed from there to the Monterey-San Luis Obispo County line.
Evacuation orders and warnings remain in effect in Monterey County, while parts of northeastern San Luis Obispo County remain under evacuation warnings.
Below-normal temperatures and elevated humidity are expected to continue providing firefighters with more favorable conditions as crews work to strengthen containment on both fires. ∆
This article appears in Sept 3-10, 2026.
