Some Big Sur residents have refused to evacuate. Authorities arrested property owner Ross Curtis, 48, on Friday afternoon on suspicion of setting backfires in an attempt to save his home on Apple Pie Ridge. Relatives and neighbors, who said he had since been released from jail, rushed to his defense, contending that they had to save their land from 200-foot-high flames in the absence of fire crews.
Big Sur firefighters also face the added danger of more than 100,000 dead oak trees studded through the burning forests, acting as kindling.
At the peak of the fire rampage that began June 20, some 1,783 fires burned, many ignited by lightning. So far, more than 510,000 acres from Nevada to the Pacific Ocean have burned, destroying 34 homes and 32 outbuildings, fire officials said.
Weather forecasters warned Saturday that a high-pressure ridge developing over the central Pacific will track east, squeezing hot air from the interior deserts toward the coast and limiting the cooling marine layer to the beaches.
The warming trend should begin Monday in Southern California, with temperatures expected to surpass 90 degrees in valleys and foothills, fairly typical for this time of year. By Tuesday, temperatures could approach or exceed 105 degrees. The heat wave is expected to extend through Friday. Temperatures also will soar in the typically cooler Big Sur area, peaking Wednesday, when they could surpass 90 degrees at the shore and top 100 degrees inland, with humidity only 20%.
Further complicating firefighting efforts is a monsoonal flow expected by midweek, bringing with it higher moisture levels and possible downpours, but also the threat of dangerous lightning strikes.
"You really can't win out here," said Rich Thompson, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
--
tami.abdollah@latimes.com
eric.bailey@latimes.com
--
Times staff writers Howard Blume, Mary Engel and Deborah Schoch contributed to this report.
--
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
How the wildfires got their names
Fires are typically named after the place they started.
The Gap fire
Named for an area of San Marcos Pass along California 154 called Windy Gap, where the fire was mistakenly reported as having originated. It actually started about 8 miles to the west. But to avoid confusion, officials decided to keep the name. The report came in at 5:30 p.m. on July 1.
The Basin Complex fire
Two factors contributed to this name: "Basin" refers to the lightning-caused fire that started near Bear Basin about 20 miles east of Big Sur on June 21 at 12:56 p.m. That fire merged with two others to form the Basin Complex fire. "Complex" refers to a command post from which firefighters manage multiple fires.
--
Source: State and federal fire officials
--
On latimes.com
Fire information
Find the latest fire news, photos, evacuation maps and road closures at latimes.com.
