Firefighters are fighting a wildfire along the central coast of California near Highway. The crew made some progress by January 23, but dozens of homes remain under an evacuation order. The Colorado Fire began January 21 in Palo Colorado Canyon, more specifically, in the Big Sure region of Monterey County. The fire grew and burned 1,050 acres by January 22, and up to 100 acres the day before, officials told CNN.

Firefighters had contained around 25% of the blaze as of the evening of January 23. CAL Fire reports that “The fire behavior was moderate and made wind-driven runs late Saturday night and into Sunday morning, with some isolated tree torching. Crews will continue building and improving containment lines and mopping up hotspots by January 23. Part of Highway 1 remains closed in both directions on January 23, as reported by the Monterey County Office of Emergency Services said in a post to Facebook.

Highway 1 was closed between the Andrew Molera State Park and the Granite Canyon Bridge, the transportation department for California reported. Evacuation orders were issued on January 21 in all areas west of 3800 Palo Colorado Road to Highway 1 and south to Bixby Creek. Around 75 homes were affected by the wildfire, but many residents chose not to listen to the order. CAL Fire also made a post to Twitter showing the damage to a satellite loop. 

Strong winds and extremely low humidity have appeared to fan out the flames. The flames from the Colorado Fire were visible from about 70 miles away from Santa Cruz County. The fire comes after drought conditions have begun improving in California. The recent heavy rains have improved the drought and eliminated the highest levels of drought and it reduced the level 3 out of 4 “extreme drought” from 80% of the state in mid-December to 1% this past week. However, the drought is a likely culprit for the spread of the fire. Crews will continue to fight the fire and it won’t be known the extent of the damage until the fire is contained