Update: More evacuations ordered as SLO County wildfire burns over 35,000 acres
A fast-moving vegetation fire quadrupled in size in a matter of hours Wednesday night, growing to more than 35,000 acres and forcing evacuations north of Highway 166 in the southeastern corner of San Luis Obispo County.
And the fire grew by the hour, with no containment reported as of 11:30 p.m., according to the Watch Duty emergency services app.
Meanwhile, the SLO County Office of Emergency Services issued more evacuation orders at 9 p.m. as the flames moved toward the Carrizo Plain National Monument, around and north of Soda Lake.
Evacuation orders were issued for seven areas: SLC-226, SLC-264, SLC-265, SLC-299, SLC-312, SLC-337 and SLC-338. Evacuation warnings were issued for SLC-313 and SLC-258.
A temporary evacuation point was set up at the California Valley Community Services District office at 13080 Soda Lake Road, the Office of Emergency Services said.
An evacuation warning was also issued in Santa Barbara County, for areas east of Rock Front Area, west of Cottonwood Canyon Road and south of Highway 166.
The Madre Fire was burning in grasslands and hilly terrain, blackening a huge swath of land north of the highway and west into the Carrizo Plains Ecological Reserve. The preserve is located between Highway 166 and Soda Lake.
As of 11:30 p.m., the fire had scorched 35,530 acres. It was also causing unhealthy air quality, particuarly in the New Cuyama area, where readings were in the red zone at levels as high as 186 due to particulate matter from the fire, according to the AirVisual app.
It also prompted the California Highway Patrol to close a long stretch of HIghway 166, which connects the Central Coast to the San Joaquin Valley. The closure went all the way from the junction with Highway 101 in Santa Maria to Perkins Road in New Cuyama. Caltrans urged travelers to find alternate routes.
Throughout the afternoon, multiple cameras on UC San Diego’s ALERTCalifornia network showed a massive plume of dark smoke from the fire.
According to the CHP’s Traffic Incident Information Page, the fire was spotted at around 1:05 p.m., starting off small but advancing toward the highway.
It grew quickly, sending up a huge plume of smoke that could be seen for miles away.
The fire prompted a response from Cal Fire shortly after it was called in, according to Watch Duty, but the Los Padres National Forest then took over jurisdiction.
According to a post on X from Santa Barbara County Fire Department public information officer Scott Safechuck, the fire was approximately 100 acres as of 2 p.m., and was spreading from grass to heavier vegetation due to wind and topography.
Within 20 minutes it had grown to five times that size as air attack teams and additional tankers were called in.
A a total of nine air tankers were responding to the blaze, Watch Duty said at the time.
This story was originally published July 2, 2025 at 2:28 PM.
