JORDAN LITE
Associated Press Writer
BIG SUR, Calif. (AP) -- Firefighters battling lightning-sparked wildfires near the scenic Big Sur coast are taking pains to minimize ecological damage from blazes that have consumed 33,000 acres.
``If there's an area that has one of the few native plants left, they're going to try to go around it,'' Tony Akin of the California Department of Forestry said Wednesday. ``It's the same thing with animals. If there's any way we can possibly not disturb them, we try that way.''
Firefighters credited scattered thunderstorms with helping them battle two clusters of Big Sur-area fires Wednesday. Dozens of people, including a band of monks, have been forced to flee areas near the fires in the remote Los Padres National Forest.
Fires burning in canyons still threatened to climb over a ridge and onto the New Camaldoli Monastery, where three caretakers defied an evacuation order. Fires in the area were 20 percent contained Wednesday.
Clear skies and light winds were predicted today. A high pressure system was expected to bring drier conditions over the weekend.
About 200 miles north of San Francisco in Trinity County, firefighters battling wildfires that have consumed 51,707 acres also were aided by weather conditions. Although it remained hot and dry, much of the smoke had cleared out.
Gov. Gray Davis has declared a State of Emergency for the county because of the fires, touched off by lightning in August.
