11:45 am – just got a call from Steve Dean of the USFS at Big Sur station and he has confirmed what I suspected. They had been doing a big control burn at Ft. Hunter-Liggett, and it is in mop-up mode currently. That solves that mystery. Thanks, everyone, and particularly Steve and Jo-anne for getting back to me so quickly.

11:30 am -I have had a number of inquiries about the smell of smoke down here this morning. I could smell it quite strongly earlier this morning. I have checked all my resources and can find nothing about a fire anywhere in Monterey or SLO Co.

There appears to be a bit of drift smoke to the south and east, but it is faint, and there are no visible plumes. I will continue to monitor the situation throughout the day, and will post if I find out there is a controlled burn at Ft. Hunter-Liggett, or anything else that might explain the two reports plus my observations.