woodward_fire_bear_valley
Firefighters on the Bear Valley Trail watched over a portion of the Woodward Fire on Tuesday afternoon, the day after a feared lightning storm failed to materialize. The fire’s eastern spread was stopped at the trail by Wednesday afternoon.   David Briggs

Coastal residents are on edge as a large fire grows in the Point Reyes National Seashore, threatening homes, reshaping wilderness and saturating the sky with smoke. 

Firefighters are fully engaged on the front lines to contain the blaze, which has burned nearly 3,000 acres of parkland and jumped over at least three control lines. The fight is challenged by the varied climate created by the Pacific Ocean and the Inverness Ridge, and a reluctance by…