Wind-driven brush fire in Marin County closes Highway 1

A wind-driven brush fire broke out Wednesday in Marin County, closing Highway 1.

The fire broke out along the coast between Muir Beach and Stinson Beach, according the Marin County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities urged the public to avoid the area.

No evacuations have been ordered.

The blaze comes as firefighters to the north are battling the monster Kincade fire in Sonoma County, which has burned more than 10,000 acres and threatened homes.

Officials expected fire conditions in the San Francisco Bay Area to improve Thursday afternoon, but smoke issues across the region will worsen Friday.

A second round of extreme fire weather will return to the region Saturday, with gusts as high as 80 mph possible this weekend in the North Bay and East Bay hills at elevations above 1,000 feet. The wind conditions will be worse than experienced Thursday morning.

By late Thursday morning, gusts in the North Bay at elevations above 1,000 feet were clocked at 40 mph, and wind speeds were expected to continue to decrease through the afternoon, allowing red flag warnings — posted when there is weather that may lead to especially dangerous wildfire growth — to expire before Thursday evening if current conditions continue, said meteorologist Steve Anderson of the National Weather Service’s Monterey office.

But firefighters will still need to contend with unusually high temperatures in the 90s throughout the Bay Area on Thursday and low humidity levels. Officials added that while the Kincade fire’s smoke isn’t causing problems in the Bay Area, winds will shift Friday and could affect San Francisco International Airport by midday Friday.

“Even though the winds will be lower, fire danger will continue to remain high today,” Anderson said.