Campfire Blamed for Deadly CA Wildfire

A destructive wildfire that continues to spread in vast and rugged terrain near Big Sur was ignited by an abandoned campfire, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection officials said Tuesday.

Although they said they didn’t know who was responsible for the campfire, the Cal Fire officials said it was started illegally about 2¼ miles east of Highway 1 along Soberanes Creek in an isolated area of Garrapata State Park.

The Soberanes Fire continued to grow Tuesday, and firefighters estimated it would be weeks before the flames would be suppressed. The burn scar had grown to 44,300 acres — larger than the city of San Francisco — and was visible from space as heavy smoke billowed from the mountainous landscape of California’s picturesque Central Coast.

The fire, which began July 22 and has pushed southeast into Los Padres National Forest, was just 25 percent contained Tuesday. Cal Fire officials said they didn’t expect full containment until the end of August.

“In some locations the fire is still actively burning at night,” Cal Fire spokesman Don Jaques said Tuesday.

The fire began at an “illegal, unattended campfire,” Jaques said. Investigators spent 150 hours in the area, seeking to pinpoint the source of ignition. On Tuesday afternoon, it was determined that the impromptu campfire, about 2 feet in diameter, was responsible, Jaques said. The area of the campfire was away from trails and off-limits to hiking.

Firefighters in recent days have gotten an upper hand in the wildfire’s hard-to-reach areas by lighting fires from the containment boundaries toward the advancing flames.

The blaze — one of the state’s largest and most destructive this year — has destroyed 57 homes. Last week, a privately contracted bulldozer operator was killed when his equipment rolled over while he was fighting the fire.

In Yolo County, a grass fire that started Tuesday afternoon had spread to 1,700 acres by 9 p.m. and was burning out of control near Lake Berryessa.

It prompted an evacuation of Canyon Creek Resort and Golden Bear Estates in Winters, fire officials said.

The Cold Fire, burning in Yolo County off of Highway 128 west of Pleasants Valley Road, started shortly after 4:30 p.m., according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The fire was zero percent contained as of 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Officials issued an evacuation order for Canyon Creek Resort, an RV, cabin and tent camping site, said Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant.

This is the third straight year that Golden Bear Estates has been evacuated. Highway 128 was closed from Monticello Dam to Pleasants Valley Road, officials said.

An estimated 500 personnel were on scene with Cal Fire, including Napa County, Winters and Dixon fire crews. There were no reports of injuries or damaged structures.

Evan Sernoffsky, Steve Rubenstein and Jenna Lyons are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email:[email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky,@SteveRubeSF, @JennaJourno

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