SLO vegetation fire burns hills along Highway 101 on Cuesta Grade, forcing evacuations
A vegetation fire burned several acres of hillside at the base of the Cuesta Grade on Tuesday, forcing evacuations of homes in the area before a quick response corralled the flames.
The fire sparked at 10:17 a.m. near Hawk Hill Lane off southbound Highway 101, according to the emergency response app PulsePoint.
Cal Fire said in a social media post at 11 a.m. that they were “making great progress” and the fire was less 60 acres.
At 11:40 a.m., Cal Fire spokesperson Toni Davis told The Tribune the fire was 5% contained.
“There’s going to be crews working alongside of the highway for the next few hours,” Davis said. “Please drive with caution, watch out for our fire personnel and our law enforcement partners as they get this thing contained.”
By 12:15 p.m., the WatchDuty app reported the fire had been mapped at 13.7 acres and noted that all air resources had been released.
Cal Fire reported at 1:15 p.m. forward progress was stopped and that the fire had reached 50% containment.
Fire threatened structures
Dispatchers initially reported on the emergency scanner that the fire had the potential to grow to 200 acres and was spreading uphill “at a moderate rate of speed.”
At least two structures were threatened, Cal Fire said, while also noting on the radio that pedestrians on a nearby hill were in the way and hindering drops from firefighting aircraft.
Firefighters checked homes in the area to ensure residents were safely cleared.
According to Caltrans Quickmap, the fire was believed to have been started by a truck pulling a landscaping trailer. The truck stopped nearby, the California Highway Patrol incident report on Quickmap said.
The incident report also said that around 10:50 a.m. a car was seen overheating about halfway down the Grade going southbound.
The CHP said on social media that the right southbound lane on the Grade will be closed until about 10 p.m. Drivers on the highway should expect delays, the agency said.
The CHP and San Luis Obispo police assisted with response and traffic control.
Cal Poly spokesperson Matt Lazier told The Tribune in an email that the Poly Canyon trails were closed “out of an abundance of caution” due to the fire. By 1:15 p.m., the trail was reopened.
San Luis Obispo Parks and Recreation also closed the Miossi Open Space for at least the remainder of the day because of the fire, the agency said on Instagram.
The Atascadero Fire Department, Santa Margarita Fire Department, San Luis Obispo City Fire Department and a team from California Men’s Colony all assisted in fighting the flames, Cal Fire said.
This story was originally published September 3, 2024 at 10:36 AM.
