Storm hits central coast on Friday, lots of trees and wires down

As wind and rain starts to hit the central coast, several trees and wires have started to fall and crews are seeing some ponding on roadways as well.

Two fire sparked in Big Sur Friday as winds picked up, that coupled with the dry brush kept firefighters busy.

The first fire happened after 10a.m. near the Esalen Insitute off Hot Springs Canyon. The U.S. Forest Service assumed control of that fire but CALFIRE says they expect to remain on scene until about 5p.m. Friday evening. Full containment is expected by Saturday mid-afternoon.

The fire grew to about 1/2 acre and there is still no determination on the cause of the fire.

Then later Friday afternoon, power lines fell and sparked a fire in Palo Colorado right near Rocky Point Restaurant. CALFIRE was about to contain that fire to about 1/4 acre as the winds drove the flames from the sparking wires.

Firefighters say the humidity from inclement rain did help stall the spread of these fires.

A large tree toppled and crushed a car in Salinas near Archer and Nacional Streets Friday afternoon. That downed tree caused some power outages in the area.

Several accidents started to back up the Friday afternoon and evening commute along Highway 101 and Highway 17.

As of 4p.m. Friday in Ben Lomond about 100 customers were without power, and about 400 customers were in the dark at about 6:00p.m. in Big Sur.