BIG SUR, Calif. – California’s signature parks along the Big Sur coastline that draw thousands of daily visitors were closed Tuesday as one of the state’s two major wildfires threatened the scenic region at the height of the summer tourism season.
To the south, firefighters made progress containing a huge blaze in mountains outside Los Angeles, allowing authorities to let most of 20,000 people evacuated over the weekend to return home. In Wyoming, a large backcountry wildfire in the Shoshone National Forest put about 290 homes and guest ranches at risk.
The Big Sur fire threatened a long stretch of pristine, forested mountains hugging the coast and sent smoke billowing over the famed Pacific Coast Highway, which remained open with few if any flames visible to motorists but a risk that the blaze could reach beloved campgrounds, lodges and redwoods near the shore.
“It is folly to predict where this fire will go,” said California State Parks spokesman Dennis Weber.
The Los Angeles-area fire has destroyed 18 homes since it started and authorities over the weekend discovered a burned body in a car identified Tuesday as a man who refused to be evacuated.
A woman living in the house of Robert Bresnick was left with firefighters, but he went back inside the house. The body of Bresnick, 67, was found about 20 minutes later Saturday in the car after flames tore through the neighborhood, said Los Angeles County Coroner’s Assistant Ed Winter.
The Big Sur closures were put into place for parks that draw 7,500 visitors daily from around the world for their dramatic vistas of ocean and mountains. Campgrounds were closed because of the dangers smoke could pose to visitors but could reopen soon if the blaze is held back by firefighters, Weber said.
