Fire closes in on Big Sur homes

As more than 1,000 fires continued to burn in California, flames advanced toward more homes near Big Sur on Sunday, but firefighters said they had made progress in protecting an isolated Buddhist retreat in Los Padres National Forest.

Fire officials advised residents of Palo Colorado Canyon, a hamlet of about 250 homes north of Big Sur, to evacuate as the Basin Complex fire continued its advance. On Sunday afternoon, the head of the blaze remained about three miles from homes, fire officials said.

Jennifer Gray, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service, said firefighters equipped with bulldozers were cutting fire breaks east of the blaze to help protect the area that includes Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.

“We have made progress in getting those into place,” Gray said, adding that more needs to be done.

The Indians fire southeast of the monastery was 89% contained early Sunday, Gray said. That fire will pose little threat to the center unless weather conditions change abruptly, she said.

Statewide, 30 major blazes were continuing to threaten homes and lives, with all but five burning in Northern California, authorities said.

All told, those fires have charred 356,134 acres in the state since June 20. Nearly 48,000 acres have burned since Saturday morning, said Greg Renick, a spokesman for the California Office of Emergency Services.

More than 7,500 homes remained threatened, he said. Among the buildings destroyed so far are 29 homes and one commercial property.

Renick said firefighters have made progress on some blazes. But he said fire officials were concerned about the potential for scattered thunderstorms and lightning strikes in Northern California through today, which could make the task of gaining control of the current blazes all the more difficult.

“We’re going to have a long fire season because of the lack of rain and dry conditions throughout the state,” Renick said.

In Southern California, more than 300 firefighters battled a blaze about 35 miles east of Bakersfield.

The fire, which started Saturday near Piute Peak, had burned 1,000 acres by Sunday afternoon and was threatening about 25 summer homes and cabins in the French Meadow and Brown’s Meadow areas of Sequoia National Forest.

“The terrain is extremely difficult to deal with,” said Kern County Fire Capt. Alex Entenman.

“We would like to have more resources, but we’re making do with what we’ve got.”

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jack.leonard@latimes.com