Big Sur burns

Montebello firefighter Dan France checks a weather meter on the edge of Bixby Mountain.

July 7, 2008  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Live and dead tanbark oaks covering a hillside in Los Padres National Forest are threatened by fires in the Big Sur area.

July 7, 2008  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

U.S. Forest Service firefighter Matt Chilstrom reads while waiting for his next assignment.

July 7, 2008  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Dan France watches the fire from Bixby Mountain.

July 7, 2008  (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)

Mike Leslie of McClellanville, S.C., is leading an interagency firefighting crew near Big Sur. His crew has been on the front lines of the fire for more than 10 days. Leslie normally works for a North Carolina chapter of the Nature Conservancy, helping to set controlled burns. He has also been a firefighter.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

A tired firefighter rests briefly as he keeps an eye out for burning embers jumping from the east side to the west side of California Highway 1 in Big Sur. The Basin fire continues to burn out of control and Highway 1 is closed from south of Carmel to Lucia.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

Near Highway 1, business owner Hillary Lipman shields himself from the smoke blanketing the Big Sur coast today.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles County fire investigators Bill Westcott, left, and Terry Wilkinson examine the remains of a home destroyed near the Ventana Inn in Big Sur.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

Fire safety officer George Marcott, 61, of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest’s fire department in Washington, takes a breather as he heads up to a burned out area in Big Sur.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

Firefighter Scott Watters stands lookout on the roof of the Ventana Inn as heavy smoke enveloped much of the Big Sur coastline.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

A fallen tree smolders near the Ventana Inn in Big Sur.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

A water-dropping helicopter hovers over flames along Highway 1 near Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park on Thursday.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

Gin Horrocks takes a break from cleaning leaves and brush around a building as fire approaches the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center near Big Sur.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

Sonja Gardenswartz moves linens from a guest cottage to a truck to be taken away as fire approaches the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.  (Robert Durell / Los Angeles Times)

The view of the Pacific coastline is obstructed by haze from a wildfire north of Big Sur.  (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

Little Tujunga Hot Shots build a fire line in Big Sur. Fire crews continue to fight a wildfire which has scorched the Los Padres National Forest along California’s Central Coast.  (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

Kirk Gafill, general manager of Nepenthe restaurant, eyes the wildfire approaching his family-owned business in Big Sur.  (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

A firefighter walks around his truck in Big Sur, where light winds appeared to be pushing a blaze back on itself Monday. Last week, firefighters saved the well-known Deetjen Big Sur Inn in Central California from the wildfire.  (Paul Sakuma / Associated Press)

Two firefighters watch smoke from the Big Sur wildfire Monday. Firefighters hoped coastal fog would help them gain ground against the blaze.  (Paul Sakuma / Associated Press)

A helicopter prepares to dump water on the Big Sur wildfire. Much of the area’s terrain is steep and inaccessible to heavy equipment.  (Paul Sakuma / Associated Press)

A helicopter flies above the popular restaurant and shop Nepenthe after picking up water to douse on the Big Sur blaze.  (Paul Sakuma / Associated Press)