A wind-driven wildfire broke out late Friday in the rugged mountains above Big Sur in California, forcing residents to evacuate their homes and authorities to shut down a stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway.
The fire started in a canyon and was pushed by 56 km/h winds to the sea, jumping the highway and burning on the west side.
It burned at least six square kilometres and was five per cent contained, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said Saturday.
The Monterey County Sheriff's office ordered evacuations in the Palo Colorado Canyon at about 9:30 p.m. local time and shut down an iconic stretch of the twisting Highway 1.
Evacuees shared on social media dramatic images of burning flames behind the iconic Bixby Creek Bridge.
The concrete bridge spans the deep and wild canyon along the highway and has been the backdrop of many car commercials, movies and TV shows — most recently the HBO drama .
Strong winds were recorded in higher elevations across the San Francisco Bay Area and a swath of the Sierra Nevada overnight, knocking down trees and power lines and causing outages in numerous neighbourhoods.
Many areas were subject to wind advisories. In Sonoma County, firefighters extinguished a five-acre fire on Geyser Peak, where gusts above 145 km/h were recordexjmtzywd.
