Highway 1 reopens after Northern California's Soberanes Fire forces closure

BIG SUR, Fla., Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Hazardous trees from the Soberanes Fire in northern California temporarily forced the closure of Highway 1.

But the highway reopened at midnight Tuesday, Cal Fire reported in its latest post. Some smaller roads remain closed, Cal Fire reported.

At Ripplewood Resort on Highway 1, tourists were forced to turn around by California Highway Patrol officers.

"Well, we were going to ride down the [Pacific Coast Highway] from San Francisco and hop over and catch [Interstate] 5 north of [Los Angeles] and go back down to Laguna Beach," Donna Sutton, who was visiting California from Greensboro, N.C., told KSBW.

The Soberanes Fire has consumed 74,604 acres and was 60 percent contained, Cal Fire officials said Tuesday morning. The fire has destroyed 57 homes, 11 outbuildings, and damaged three structures and 11 outbuildings.

Areas were under evacuation warnings and an American Red Cross resource center has been set up in Carmel. Cal Fire said 410 structures were threatened.

A total of 4,102 firefighting personnel are fighting the fire, and 17 helicopters and six air tankers have been deployed.

The fire killed a private contractor operating a bulldozer at the end of July and injured three other workers, according to Cal Fire.

The fire started July 22 from an abandoned, illegal campfire at Soberanes Creek at Garrapata State Park.

As the fire moves into the wilderness and away from people, it becomes a less complex fight and personnel can be diverted to other places, Unified Command public information officer Richard Hadley said.

"We've been able to make them available to the Clayton Fire and also the Chimney Fire in San Luis Obispo," Hadley told KSBW.