Residents near Soberanes Fire evacuate as community gathers for more information

UPDATE 7/26/2016 11:00 AM: In just five days, countless peoples lives have been forever changed on the Central Coast.

“I was able to collect my pets and some of my favorite things but of course I was just thinking ‘oh we are just going to be gone for a few days’. I didn’t want to accept,” said Big Sur resident Jessica Cooper.

Hundreds of concerned residents packed Carmel River Elementary School on Monday. The big question everyone wants to know is how did this fire start?

“We do not have a cause at this point but we are diligently working to try and find the cause,” said Cal Fire Official.

The fire doesn’t appear to be running out of fuel as we enter day five.

“Unfortunately because of the five year drought, and we have so much tree mortality and all the brush, the conditions are extremely dry,” said Cal Fire PIO Lucas Spelman.

With new evacuations issued Monday, Cal Fire PIO Lucas Spelman said it’s important to be ready.

“We just ask that if people are getting prepared we have a program called ‘ready, set, go’ you can find that at www.readyforwildfire.org and it has a good checklist in there for people to be ready for evacuation if need be,” said Spelman.

UPDATE 7/25/2016 10:24 PM: More than 500 people packed the auditorium at Carmel River Elementary School for a community meeting hosted by Cal Fire.

Most wanted to know the status of the Soberanes Fire and whether their homes are in danger. For some, it’s too late.

“I’m praying for everybody and I don’t know that I will be able to live in Big Sur ever again, but it was beautiful,” said Jessica Cooper.

Cooper and her husband didn’t think they’d lose their home after they were forced to leave Friday.

“I was able to collect my pets and some of my favorite things, but of course I was just thinking, ‘oh we are just going to be gone for a few days’. I didn’t want to accept,” said Cooper.

Cal Fire said it has a team of six investigators looking into how the fire started.
Senator Bill Monning also addressed the crowd.

“We’ve been involved in these fires before. It’s a process that evolves. The main thing now is public safety, firefighter safety,” said Monning.

New evacuation orders were issued Monday for the Carmel Highlands area. Residents on Corona Road and Riley Ranch Road were told to leave and others are just waiting for word.

“We’re packed up and ready to go. We have animals that we have to corral. That will be the last step and we get them in the car and then we’ll just head out,” said Paul Rep from Carmel Highlands.

PREVIOUS: Four agencies are coordinating a community meeting this evening for the Soberanes Fire, which continues to burn north of Big Sur, which started on Friday.

While the meeting in Carmel-by-the-Sea is intended for those affected by the wildfire, the public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

The meeting is organized by CAL FIRE Monterey Unit, CAL FIRE Incident Management Team 4, The USFS Los Padres National Forest and the County of Monterey.

KION News Channel 5’s Linda Zhang will be there and will have the story later tonight.

If you’d like to go:

Carmel River Elementary School

15 th Avenue and Monte Verde Street

Carmel-by-the-Sea