What readers need to know

The Plaskett Fire was reported at 11:01 a.m. Wednesday near Forest Road 23S10, east of Los Burros Road in southern Monterey County. The fire is under U.S. Forest Service jurisdiction. CAL FIRE's official incident header listed 40 acres at 3:30 p.m.; an earlier 1:15 p.m. field update estimated 80 acres. MyPG.news is preserving both timestamps and is not inferring acreage change from the differing estimates. The cause remains under investigation.

An evacuation order is in effect for zone MRY-F036. Evacuation warnings are in effect for zones MRY-F035 and MRY-F037. CAL FIRE says the fire crossed a drainage and began moving up the south side of a mountain after a slope reversal, placing about eight structures under potential threat. Six helicopters were among nine aircraft assigned in the 3:12 p.m. update, while ground access remained difficult because of steep terrain.

No Pacific Grove evacuation is listed. This is included for residents traveling the Big Sur coast, for regional smoke and fire-resource impacts, and because conditions may change quickly. Caltrans reported Highway 1 open through the fire region at 3:39 p.m., with separate continuous one-way construction control at Rocky Creek Bridge through 6 a.m. August 31. Follow evacuation instructions and check the official incident and highway pages before traveling south.