Incident commanders describe backburns, dozer lines and drones in Big Sur firefight

Operations officials gave a step-by-step account of firefighting tactics used against the Timber and Plasket fires. Clint Green, operations section chief with California Team 3, described a recent back-burn operation from Manuel Peak down to Highway 1 that "took about 2 to 2.5 days," tied into Old Coast Road and is being extended via dozer lines toward LP Dam and Batcher's Gap. Green said crews are using masticators and hose lines to bolster dozer lines and that the team favors ridge-top lines where feasible to create more-holdable straight lines.