Twitchell Reservoir wildfire stays at 175 acres; Highway 166 remains closed

UPDATE: Evacuation warnings issued Friday afternoon for the Tepusuquet Canyon area. Please go to our latest story for more information on the fire: http://tribne.ws/2tr1qK4.

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UPDATE: The Alamo Fire grew to 250 acres Friday afternoon and is burning at a “dangerous rate.” Read the latest on this developing story here: http://tribne.ws/2tr1qK4.

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Update Friday, 6:30 a.m.

Containment has increased to 20 percent, and the fire is holding at 175 acres, Cal Fire said. Highway 166 is still closed.

Update 8:40 p.m.

Crews finally started to get some control of the Alamo Fire as the sun disappeared Thursday night. The blaze grew to 175 acres, but the fire is now 10 percent contained and its forward progress stopped, according to Cal Fire.

“We still got a long way to go to get a hard line around the fire. We will be working through the night,” Cal Fire spokesman Chris Elms said.

Elms said crews were taking advantage of the muted wind as the sun set Thursday, but wind speeds are expected to increase overnight and into Friday morning.

“We are going to take advantage and hit it hard tonight,” Elms said.

Elms said he doesn’t expect any more updates from the scene until Friday morning.

Update, 6:45 p.m.

Seven tanker aircraft and three helicopters are working to extinguish the Alamo Fire that remains at 150 acres and zero percent containment, according to Cal Fire spokesman Chris Elms.

The fire, which is in San Luis Obispo County about a quarter-mile from the Santa Barbara County line, is moving at a moderate pace east along Highway 166, which will remain closed, likely through the night, Elms said. Cal Fire is being assisted by multiple agencies including Santa Barbara County Fire, SLO County Fire, CHP, Caltrans and the U.S. Forest Service.

Elms said the rugged terrain is making it difficult for fire crews to get close to the fire on the ground, so the plan is to attack the fire from the sky using available aircraft.

Update, 6:20 p.m.

The Alamo Fire has grown to 150 acres and is burning on both sides of Highway 166, according to Cal Fire.

A red flag warning has been issued by the National Weather Service and will remain in effect until 10 a.m. Saturday morning for gusty winds and low relative humidity for the Santa Barbara County mountains near the area where crews are battling the fire.

Original story

A large portion of Highway 166 is expected to be closed for about two hours because of a wildfire Thursday afternoon near Twitchell Reservoir in southern San Luis Obispo County, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Highway 166 between Highway 101 in Santa Maria and Tepusquet Road was shut down just after 4:30 p.m. when a vegetation fire, called the Alamo Fire, quickly burned 20 acres. Cal Fire crews, including air tankers, have responded to the fire that had grown to about 100 acres by 4:50 p.m. The fire started about 3:40 p.m.

According to a Cal Fire spokesperson, no structures are threatened and no evacuations have been issued.

Cal Fire crews also battled another fire about the same time, in northern San Luis Obispo County near Whitley Gardens east of Paso Robles, where structures were briefly threatened before that blaze’s forward progress was stopped at 6 acres, Cal Fire officials said.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

This story was originally published July 6, 2017 at 5:10 PM with the headline "Twitchell Reservoir wildfire stays at 175 acres; Highway 166 remains closed."