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Jun 28, 2008 9:06 am US/Pacific
Big Sur Fire Forces 12-Mile Closure Of PCH
BIG SUR (AP) ―
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Firefighters watch a wildfire burn in Big Sur in Monterey County, Tuesday, June 24, 2008.
AP
Authorities have closed a roughly 12-mile stretch of coastal Highway 1 near Big Sur because of a massive wildfire, shutting off access to several popular tourist spots.
Meanwhile, President Bush has declared a federal state of emergency in the region and in the State of California. Seven counties are currently being ravaged by wildfires.
The blaze burning near Big Sur has burned nearly 42 square miles in the Los Padres National Forest and destroyed 16 homes in the Big Sur area since it was sparked Saturday by a lightning storm.
The fire is only 3 percent contained as firefighters work to protect more than 500 homes and other buildings threatened by the blaze. They let the wildfire rage virtually unchecked in the remote mountain wilderness as it expanded into mostly uninhabited areas.
More than 1,000 fires, mostly caused by lightning, have burned more than 400 square miles from the Central Coast to the Oregon border, and firefighters are bracing for additional lightning strikes that could ignite new fires across Northern California over the weekend
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