Crews will work into night on 400-acre Shell Beach fire; some evacuations lifted
Update 9:30 p.m.:
Evacuation orders have been lifted for all areas except four streets in the Pismo Beach city limits, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office.
Those are: Barcelona, Costa Rica, Costa Brava and Costa del Sol.
Evacuations for those streets are expected to be lifted around 10 p.m., according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Cal Fire will remain overnight and monitor the situation.
Update 8:30 p.m.:
Both lanes of southbound Highway 101 have reopened, but northbound remains closed, according to Caltrans. Traffic should continue using Highway 227 as a detour.
Update, 8:20 p.m.:
In an update shared by the city of Pismo Beach on Monday evening, Cal Fire Battalion Chief Paul Lee said they were optimistic going into the night because of positive weather conditions that could help fight the blaze.
Lee said the fire “made a pretty quick run” into Shell Beach when it first broke out this afternoon.
Bulldozers and hand crews will be working in the area throughout the night, and air attack will resume in the morning, he added.
“We will be out here for many days,” Lee said. “There’s still a lot of open line for us to try to control. And a lot of work and mop up over the next week.”
Lee said as of 8 p.m. the fire was still about 400 acres.
Police Chief Jake Miller said traffic has cleared in downtown Pismo Beach, while northbound Highway 101 remains closed, “but not for much longer.”
Miller said police crews are examining the area of Mattie Road, and residents under evacuation orders there could be given the go ahead to return to their homes soon.
Update, 7 p.m.:
The northwestern winds driving the fire — which peaked at about 4:45 p.m. — were blowing at a sustained speed of about 7 mph with gusts of up to 18 mph by 6:35 p.m., according to the PG&E weather station between Pismo Beach and Arroyo Grande.
Earlier in the evening, the winds were blowing at a sustained speed of 15 mph with gusts of up to 27 mph, according to PG&E’s weather map.
Temperatures in the area also dropped from from the 70-degree range to 65 degrees, creating better firefighting conditions.
The evacuation warning for Pismo Heights has been canceled, according to San Luis Obispo County Emergency Services.
While the fire continues to burn, people are still walking about downtown Pismo Beach and and eating at restaurants. From the Pismo Beach shore, smoke is visible, clouding the sun.
Update, 6:30 p.m.:
The fire — which is around 400 acres — is about 10% contained as of 6:20 p.m., according to Cal Fire.
Firefighters have nearly surrounded the fire with fire retardant, according to the scanner.
Evacuations are still in progress.
The San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District issued a health advisory due to the heavy smoke.
The fire may also drive snakes from the hills, according to the Central Coast Snakes Service.
They asked that people in the area who see snakes fleeing from the fire call them so they may pick up the snakes for free.
Update, 6:15 p.m.:
Many cars have lined up to watch the smoke from the Arroyo Grande Walmart parking lot, where the Red Cross set up an evacuation center for Shell Beach and Pismo Beach residents who live near the ongoing fire.
Planes are flying overhead toward the fire, as people sit in their cars, some of whom are listening to the radio scanner, while other eat In-N-Out.
Others are milling about and asking questions.
Teri Nelson, who was staying at the Spyglass Inn when the fire broke out, said she was taking a nap and woke up to smoke in her room. She was told to evacuate immediately and headed to the Walmart parking lot.
“Now, they’re saying you can’t go,” Nelson said. “(I left) everything, everything I used to spend the night. Everything.”
Shell Beach resident Shelly Malcom drove to the evacuation center with her family and dog when she saw flames from her home.
Malcom was hopeful that the fire would be contained soon.
A sheriff deputy stopped by the evacuation center and said they would update residents once they knew more.
Update, 5:40 p.m.:
PG&E is on the scene of downed power lines near Highway 101 and Shell Beach Road, according to scanner traffic
An evacuation warning has been issued for the area east of Highway 101 from North Bello Street, south to Price Canyon Road and east to the city limits of Pismo Beach, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office. While the area is not being actively evacuated, residents are being asked to be ready to evacuate “on a moment’s notice.”
Santa Barbara County Fire said they have sent five engines and a battalion chief to assist with the fire.
Update, 5:20 p.m:
The fire has reached around 380 acres in the Pismo Beach and Shell Beach area, according to scanner traffic.
SLO City Fire reported that the fire is moving south.
Costa Brava has been evacuated south all the way to Corralitos. And Pismo Heights residents have been alerted to evacuate, according to scanner traffic.
One woman was driving with her family and a friend to Avila Pier when they heard the fire crackling.
“We had just gotten off the off-ramp in Avila. ... We could hear the crackling and we were like, ‘What is that?’ ” Shanee Best said.
She said they “didn’t think too much about it,” until they saw the smoke. They left the area, using back roads to get to San Luis Obispo.
Best’s daughter, Kayla Franklin, said they could briefly see the flames from their vantage point at Boosinger Park, but around 5 p.m. it looks as if the flames had died down.
Update, 4:30 p.m.:
Traffic in San Luis Obispo on Highway 227 is moving slowly as people take that road to detour around Highway 101 and get to South County.
Price Canyon Road is also seeing high traffic from cars going from the Pismo Beach area toward San Luis Obispo.
Meanwhile, a large cloud of dark brown smoke can be seen curling over the ridge, separating the Edna Valley from the coast.
The fire has reached near the edge of Pismo Beach. The housing complex south of Spyglass Drive is being evacuated now, according to scanner traffic.
Update, 4:10 p.m.:
Cal Fire and SLO City Fire have 15 units and two air tankers are on the scene, according to Cal Fire information officer Adan Orozco. He said 20 additional units, three more air tankers and a helicopter have been requested.
The CHP was in the process of closing northbound Highway 101 lane at Mattie Road in Pismo Beach and the southbound lane of the highway at San Luis Bay Drive.
Buildings on Live Oak Lane, Indian Knob Road and Monte Road are being evacuated, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office.
There have been reports of a downed power line in the area, Orozco said.
Original story:
Highway 101 near Shell Beach is closed as firefighters respond to a rapidly spreading 25-acre fire that broke out just before 3 p.m. Monday.
The vegetation fire, located near Gragg Canyon Road, is spreading rapidly and endangering structures, according to Cal Fire.
There have been multiple reports of spot fires on both sides of the Highway 101, according to scanner traffic.
The highway closure spans from north of the Avila Beach Drive to south of Mattie Road, according to scanner traffic.
According to CHP logs, smoke is visible from the freeway, possibly causing low visibility in the Spyglass Drive area.
As of 3:30 p.m., the fire had reached 25 acres. However, Cal Fire tweeted that the fire has the potential to burn more than 200 acres.
Structures in the area were being threatened, including homes along Spyglass Drive, Monday afternoon and people were being evacuated from the area, according to officials.
An air attack had been deployed and Cal Fire SLO, SLO City Fire and Five Cities Fire units are on the scene. Five additional units had been requested.
This is an ongoing story and will be updated as information becomes available.
This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 3:47 PM.
