A narrow but dense plume of smoke rises from the Lockheed Fire southwest of San Jose, California, and slices across the mouth of Monterey Bay, stretching past the city of Santa Cruz toward Monterey in this photo-like image taken on August 13, 2009.
The Basin Complex Fire was clearly active on multiple fronts. The large burn scar in the lower center of the center shows that the fire ran all the way to the coast in places. South of Big Sur, portions of the state’s famously scenic coastal highway (Highway 1) had to be closed.