The Plaskett and Timber fires have been burning in the Los Padres National Forest for the past few weeks, closing off portions of Highway 1, but that road is now open once again.
“We’ve officially reopened Highway 1 in both directions so that travelers can now drive from Cambria all the way up to Carmel and vice versa, Carmel down to Cambria,” said Mariana Holder, Caltrans District 5 spokesperson.
Fire officials at the Plaskett Fire say that the weather over the past few days has helped them with containment.
“We’re at 89% containment now," said Jasmine Facun, Plaskett Fire Public Information Officer. "Acreage is at 29,976 acres, so yeah, the fire progress, we’ve been making really good progress.”
The reopening now allows travelers to go up and down the coast, stopping at local businesses like The Spot restaurant in Cambria, whose owner says he notices the difference.
“It gets traveled a lot and we depend a lot on the highway," said Jesus Hernandez, The Spot restaurant owner. "So with it being closed, we saw a drop in sales.”
Hernandez added that they have been in business since 2018 and any time the highway is closed, he sees a drop in customers.
“I didn’t really notice much yesterday but today I do seem to have a few more people coming in,” Hernandez said.
Officials added that anyone planning a getaway up or down the coast should still be mindful of the firefighting efforts that are taking place.
“[The] traveling public should still be aware that there are still fire operations that are continuing, so to be aware if you are traveling through the area that you may see emergency vehicles and first responders,” Holder said.
“Some pockets are still burning, so you may see some interior smoke coming up here and there," Facun said. "They’re far away from the fire line so we don’t expect that they’re going to move the fire outside of its current perimeter.”
