Fire crews continued to battle fires near the coastal town of Big Sur, California on Tuesday after making progress over the weekend with the blaze, which began last week.
As KSBY reported, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) was able to start making reductions in the size of the fire on Sunday by using an improved mapping system, which reduced the blaze to about 700 acres.
In a Tuesday tweet, CAL FIRE said the fire had been at least 45 percent contained.
Strong winds pushed a wildfire that broke out in the rugged mountains above Big Sur, to the sea. It forced hundreds of residents on the precarious stretch of the California coast to evacuate.
Fire officials said the fire broke out last week in a canyon and quickly burned 1,500 acres of brush and redwood trees. Authorities issued evacuation orders for about 500 residents and shut a stretch of Highway 1, including Bixby Bridge, the tall concrete bridge that has been featured in car commercials, movies and TV shows.
Strong winds were recorded across the San Francisco Bay Area, knocking down trees and power lines and causing outages to at least 18,000 Pacific Gas & Electric customers.
