Timber fire grows to 5,772 acres in Big Sur as crews continue to make progress

Stephanie Zappelli, The Tribune (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) on Aug 20, 2026

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The Timber fire grew to 5,772 acres as of Thursday morning as crews continued to make progress on the blaze.

Containment grew to 27% with 1,638 personnel fighting the fire, Cal Fire said.

Several areas around the fire remained under evacuation orders or warnings as of the latest update, and the incident page still lists 503 structures as threatened by the flames.

Meanwhile, Highway 1 was closed from mile marker 42.6, half a mile south of Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn, to mile marker 37 at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, according to Cal Fire.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation.

What are the conditions of the Timber Fire?

The Timber Fire started as a 4.6-acre fire on Aug. 9, before it grew to 5,772 acres over the past 11 days, Cal Fire said.

The marine layer didn’t develop on Wednesday night, which allowed firefighters to further strengthen containment lines and fight hot spots on the coastal end of the blaze, according to the Cal Fire incident update.

The eastern side of the fire was most active. To the northeast, the blaze expanded slowly toward the Big Sur River, and to the southeast, “the fire is burning through patchy areas of vegetation” near Longwood Ridge, the incident update said.

Helicopters will continue to douse the eastern side of the fire with water, while crews extend contingency lines to the north and south.

Meanwhile, Cal Fire is working with Caltrans to mitigate hazards in the roadway and to repair infrastructure on the southern end of the fire on Highway 1, Timber Fire Operations Section Chief Marc Bontrager said in a video update.

“On the lower end of Highway 1, everything is looking really good,” he said.

On the north side of Highway 1, crews are moping up 300 to 400 feet behind the structures, he said.

Where are the evacuation orders in place?

On Wednesday, the number of zones under evacuation orders with an “immediate threat to life” were reduced from five to two: * MRY-F027-B * MRY-F028-A

Nine other zones to the north and south were under evacuation warnings with a “potential threat to life.”: * MRY-F021-B * MRY-F022 * MRY-F023 * MRY-F024 * MRY-F025 * MRY-F026 * MRY-F027-A * MRY-F028-B * MRY-F029

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