Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Technology continues to play a role in fighting the Timber Fire in Los Padres National Forest, as firefighters are now using fire-starting drones to help mitigate the fire danger in the Big Sur community.
This comes as firefighters made progress over the weekend conducting burn operations on the southern end of the Timber Fire and cutting a fire line on the western edge of the fire as they work to protect the Big Sur community from a wildfire that has so far scorched more than 5,000 acres.
“And that has really steered our direction and getting in there, being aggressive on that west end of the fire and really prioritizing them as their number one on this incident,” said CAL FIRE spokesman Curtis Rhodes.
On Monday, fire crews continued their backburning operations, directing the fire toward Highway 1. In areas that are too steep and rugged for firefighters, drones are now being deployed to drop fireballs behind fire lines to help reduce the fire risk.
“And they are able to pinpoint areas of the fire where they can release these balls, and in turn, they can lay strips of fire in that as low intensity and have that fire back into the efforts that are putting them by our ground crews with hand firing techniques,” Rhodes said.
More than 2,000 firefighters are battling the fire, and with hundreds of structures threatened, not one structure has been damaged, a testament to the firefighting efforts.
Over the weekend, convoys of food and supplies began being trucked into the Big Sur community for roughly 200 people stuck behind a road closure.
Technology continues to play a role in fighting the Timber Fire in Los Padres National Forest, as firefighters are now using fire-starting drones to help mitigate the fire danger in the Big Sur community.
This comes as firefighters made progress over the weekend conducting burn operations on the southern end of the Timber Fire and cutting a fire line on the western edge of the fire as they work to protect the Big Sur community from a wildfire that has so far scorched more than 5,000 acres.
“And that has really steered our direction and getting in there, being aggressive on that west end of the fire and really prioritizing them as their number one on this incident,” said CAL FIRE spokesman Curtis Rhodes.
On Monday, fire crews continued their backburning operations, directing the fire toward Highway 1. In areas that are too steep and rugged for firefighters, drones are now being deployed to drop fireballs behind fire lines to help reduce the fire risk.
“And they are able to pinpoint areas of the fire where they can release these balls, and in turn, they can lay strips of fire in that as low intensity and have that fire back into the efforts that are putting them by our ground crews with hand firing techniques,” Rhodes said.
More than 2,000 firefighters are battling the fire, and with hundreds of structures threatened, not one structure has been damaged, a testament to the firefighting efforts.
Over the weekend, convoys of food and supplies began being trucked into the Big Sur community for roughly 200 people stuck behind a road closure.
