An abandoned, illegal campfire sparked the Soberanes Fire that has scorched more than 67-square miles of Monterey County and killed one person, state fire officials announced Tuesday.
The campfire was about 2-feet by 2-feet and burning away from official hiking trails and campsites when it triggered the larger blaze a few miles east of Highway 1 north of Soberanes Creek Trail July 22, an investigator with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. Authorities are still searching for the person or persons who started the campfire.
The wildfire had burned 44,300 acres and was 25% contained Tuesday, Cal Fire said. It has destroyed 57 homes and burned down or damaged 15 other buildings, the agency said. Just over a quarter of the fire is in the Monterey Ranger District of Los Padres National Forest, and about 28,000 acres were burning in state-controlled land, including state parks and private property, Cal Fire spokesman Bennet Milloy said.
The wildfire killed Robert Reagan III, a bulldozer operator called in July 26 to help battle the fire. At some point, he suffered fatal injuries in a remote area on the southeast end of the fire on state parkland in Carmel, authorities said. Reagan, 35, was a Fresno County resident and the father of two young girls, the Monterey Herald reported.
The blaze has been “unusually active” at night, hampering the firefight, Milloy told The Times. “Most fires, we get a little bit of moisture recovery and humidity at night, but, unfortunately, that has not been the case on this entire fire so far, so we haven’t had that slower fire growth,” Milloy said.
From the Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-soberanes-fire-cause-campfire-20160802-snap-story.html