Forest Service To Meet Thursday With Those Affected By Big Sur Fire

MONTEREY COUNTY (CBS SF) -- The U.S. Forest Service Wednesday announced plans to hold a meeting in the Big Sur area of Monterey County on Thursday for people affected by a forest fire that damaged 34 homes before it was contained last Friday.

All of the estimated 100 people evacuated from the fire, which started Dec. 15 in the Los Padres National Forest, were allowed to return home as of Monday evening, according to the forest service.

The community meeting for residents and others displaced or otherwise impacted by the blaze will be at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Big Sur Station of the national forest off of state Highway 1, the site of previous meetings held due to the fire.

The wildfire, known as the Pfeiffer Fire, ended up burning 917 acres of trees and brush in steep terrain in the forest and though 100 percent contained it is still smoldering, forest officials said.

Thirty-four residences and four other buildings were either destroyed or damaged by the flames, according to the forest service.

Forest service personnel, numbering up to 115 firefighters, remain on the site patrolling and mopping up the area amid the visible smoke, officials said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, officials said.

The blaze was ignited late in the evening of Dec. 15 near Pfeiffer Ridge Road and state Highway 1, according to Cal Fire.

The approximately 100 evacuees lived on Pfeiffer Ridge Road and Sycamore Canyon Road and in the Clear Ridge, Middle Ridge and Front Hill areas of Big Sur in southwestern Monterey County, according to the forest service.

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