California Wildfire Leads to Evacuations, Closes Highway (Photos/Video)

A wildfire broke out in California on Saturday, forcing hundreds of residents to evacuate and authorities to shut its main roadway.

The officials noted that the fire started Friday night in a steep canyon and quickly spread toward the sea, fanned by strong winds up to 50 mph (80 kph).

Cecile Juliette, a spokesperson for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said the blaze burned at least 2.3 square miles (6 square kilometers) of brush and redwood trees.

“The fire lined up with the wind and the terrain and that gave the fire a lot of energy to make a big run,” Juliette said. “The winds have died down and that has worked in our favor.”

Accordingly, the authorities urged about 500 residents to evacuate the sparsely populated area between Carmel and Big Sur.

In addition, more than 250 firefighters from multiple agencies and volunteer groups contained about 20% of the blaze by Saturday evening.

https://twitter.com/bigsurkate/status/1484786508322291714

Authorities closed a stretch of Highway 1 without revealing the time for reopening.

In the same vein, the National Weather Service pointed out that a similar windy event took place in Bay Area nearly a year ago.

However, Juliette said: “It's unusual to have fire this size here on the coast at the end of January.”

“The fact that we had a fire this size is of great concern,” she added.

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