SLO firefighters control 50-acre South Hills fire — preventing damage to nearby homes
San Luis Obispo firefighters on Sunday evening were able to wrest control of a 50-acre fire burning in the South Hills Open Space toward nearby homes — preventing damage to several evacuated neighborhoods.
The San Luis Obispo City Fire Department responded about 4 p.m. to the Bridge Fire, which sparked off Bridge Street toward the southern end of the city.
The blaze was initially reported as a structure fire. When fire officials first arrived, a 50-foot-by-50-foot area of vegetation was burning, said James Blattler, a spokesman for San Luis Obispo City Fire.
Though the area that was initially burning was small, spot fires quickly ignited from embers picked up by the slight breeze blowing in the area at the time, Blattler said.
Sunday marked the hottest day on record in San Luis Obispo, with temperatures climbing as high as 120 degrees at Cal Poly. The extreme dry heat created conditions that fueled the fire and allowed it to spread rapidly.
Evacuations were ordered for residents living east of Higuera Street, south of Bridge Street, north of Arezzo Drive and west of the Stoneridge Trail.
San Luis Obispo sheriff’s deputies, police and city fire officials were going door-to-door in the surrounding neighborhoods to alert residents of the evacuations in place.
Firefighters from the San Luis Obispo City Fire Department and Cal Fire aggressively attacked the wildfire to stop it from spreading to nearby homes.
By about 6:10 p.m., fire crews were able to establish control lines around the fire and stop forward progress at about 50 acres.
No structures were damaged in the fire, and evacuees were allowed to return home by about 7:45 p.m.
The cause of the fire is unknown at this time, and an investigation is underway, Blattler said.
This story was originally published September 6, 2020 at 6:25 PM.
