Semi-truck crash ignites fire along Highway 101 in SLO, backs up traffic
A semi-truck crash ignited three small fires on an embankment beside northbound Highway 101 in San Luis Obispo County on Thursday afternoon, San Luis Obispo City Fire Department battalion chief Ray Hais said.
A white pickup truck rear-ended a semi-truck at about 2:45 p.m. near the Madonna Road off-ramp on Highway 101, the California Highway Patrol traffic log said.
A few hundred feet of the nearby embankment caught fire after the crash, the CHP said.
The fires burned beside the creek and one had almost reached the Los Osos Valley Road off-ramp by 2:57 p.m.
The San Luis Obispo Fire Department briefly closed the No. 2 lane of northbound Highway 101 to fight the fire, the CHP said.
The semi-truck pulled over to the side of the road, but the CHP could not find the pickup truck as of 2:49 p.m., according to the log.
An ambulance was on its way to the scene of the crash as of 3 p.m., but the CHP had not yet confirmed if the pickup truck driver had been injured.
The semi-truck driver was not injured in the crash, the CHP said.
Traffic slowed to a crawl on northbound Highway 101 after the crash. According to the Caltrans QuickMap, stand-still traffic was reported from Madonna Road to Los Osos Valley Road as of 3:05 p.m.
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This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 3:10 PM.
