Firefighters work to suppress California wildfire near Big Sur coast

By Mike Fiala CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, Calif. (Reuters) - Firefighters worked on Friday to suppress a deadly wildfire near California's famed Big Sur coast that has burned more than 40 homes, forced hundreds of residents to flee and closed popular parks at the height of summer travel season. The so-called Soberanes Fire erupted last Friday just south of the upscale oceanside town of Carmel-by-the-Sea and has raged through more than 31,000 acres (12,545 hectares) of drought-parched chaparral, tall grass and timber into the Los Padres National Forest. Steep terrain and adverse weather conditions, particularly low humidity and high temperatures, have complicated efforts by nearly 4,300 firefighters to hack buffer lines through dense vegetation around the perimeter of the blaze, officials said.

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