Hwy. 166 reopens outside of Santa Maria after vegetation fire burns 17 acres
A fire briefly shut down Highway 166 outside of Santa Maria on Thursday night.
Emergency responders received a call about a car fire that spread into the surrounding grass Thursday east of Rockfront Ranch on the south side of the highway, according to Los Padres National Forest Division 3 Incident Commander Peter Stephenson.
As of 10:45 a.m. Friday, the blaze was 100% contained and had burned a total of 17 acres of grass, brush and a few oak trees, Stephenson said.
Fire crews built a direct control line around the fire, and will be on the scene Friday and Saturday to douse lingering hot spots, he said.
At 10 p.m. Thursday, hard closures were in place for Highway 166 traffic at Bull Canyon Road outside of Santa Maria and the Highway 101 interchange near Nipomo, according to Caltrans.
The highway reopened at 12:30 a.m. Friday, according to Stephenson.
Los Padres National Forest fire crews, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, Cal Fire, the Chumash Fire Department, crews from the Vandenberg Space Force Base and California Highway Patrol responded to the fire.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, Stephenson said.
CHP was conducting intermittent traffic controls on Highway 166 on Friday while crews repaired power lines at Rock Front Ranch, which is about 25 miles east of Highway 101, according to CHP Officer Joshua Thomas.
The power line repairs are unrelated to the fire, Thomas said.
This story was originally published September 14, 2023 at 10:20 PM.
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