Deadly Soberanes fire north of Big Sur grows; Southland’s Sand fire closer to being contained

As firefighters made gains on Southern California’s deadly Sand fire, the struggle continued Friday with containment of a massive wildfire burning north of Big Sur that has scorched more than 30,000 acres.

The Soberanes fire, which has burned out of control for days and claimed one life, is only 15% contained, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. To date, 31,386 acres have burned, fire officials said.

A total of 41 homes and 10 outbuildings have been destroyed by the blaze, which started a week ago in Soberanes Creek. The fire is threatening 2,000 structures and has forced hundreds of residents to evacuate, fire officials said.

The unpredictable blaze also claimed the life of Robert Reagan III, a bulldozer operator called in Tuesday to help battle the fire. At some point, he suffered fatal injuries in a remote area on the southeast end of the fire in Garrapata State Park in Carmel.

Fire crews have faced difficulties getting into the area where the fire is burning, said Cal Fire Capt. Raymond Martinez.

“The Monterey area where the fire is burning is very steep, rocky terrain which is hampering our containment effort,” Martinez said. “That’s the biggest challenge right now.”

Flames have also encroached on illegal marijuana growing operations and led to unexpected rescues.

On Monday, two people were tending to a marijuana grow when they became trapped by flames. They were found by Monterey County sheriff’s deputies.

All 900 marijuana plants were destroyed by the fire.

Then on Tuesday, eight men who had been lost for six days and were surrounded by flames while working on an illegal marijuana grow were rescued by firefighters, the Monterey Herald reported. Cal Fire officials said the men were not injured.

In Santa Clarita Valley, the deadly Sand fire has burned 38,873 acres and is now 85% contained. There were 1,718 firefighters working on the fire, a drop from early on when there were upwards of 3,000 firefighters.

“We’re by no means 100% contained, but we are at a point where we’re trying to match the needs of the incident with the personnel we have on the incident,” said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Justin Correll.

Firefighters are being released so they can be available for other fires, Correll said.

“We’re still keeping firefighters on this fire until 100% containment and even after,” Correll said.

The flames overtook Robert Bresnick, 67, who had been evacuating with his girlfriend and pets. He was discovered dead at about 7:20 p.m. Saturday inside a burned car in a driveway outside his girlfriend’s home in the 26700 block of Iron Canyon Road.

The deadly fires prompted acting Gov. Tom Torlakson to declare a state of emergency on Tuesday for Los Angeles and Monterey counties.

For more California news, follow me @brittny_mejia on Twitter.

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