Fire devastates historic Templeton Feed & Grain building as town watches

A massive fire that sparked late on the Fourth of July devastated the historic Templeton Feed & Grain building, sending towering flames shooting into the sky for hours as residents gathered on street corners to watch.

Firefighters were still dousing flames throughout Saturday as much of the roof of the 105-foot granary tower collapsed. Crews were able to save the original concrete structure, which dates back more than 100 years.

Engines from across the county responded to the blaze as firefighters attacked the flames from multiple angles, blasting water through windows and the fully engulfed structure.

By Saturday morning, the iconic building was a smoking ruin, and spectators and residents watched as firefighters continued treating the flames.

One of those was Andrea Neider, who has worked for the granary for four months. She moved to Templeton two years ago.

Neider said they’re in “limbo” waiting for the fire to be put out, as well as to hear an assessment about the future of the business.

“We’re down but not out,” Neider said.

Ray Pesenti Jr., a lifelong Templeton resident, said his father helped build the granary in the 1940s. Pesenti first heard about the fire Saturday morning.

Lou Esposito, a Templeton resident, suspected that Fourth of July fireworks may have contributed to the burn.

“There was fireworks that the city allows, and we suspect that it was a rogue rocket that smoldered up there,” Esposito said. “I mean Fourth of July and (the granary) burns at night, you kidding me? It had to be a rocket.”

Firefighting was expected “to continue for several days,” the Templeton Fire Department said in a news release Saturday afternoon.

On Saturday morning, Templeton residents were urged to conserve water due to the amount it took to fight the fire overnight.

In a post on X on Saturday morning, the Templeton Fire Department asked residents to “limit indoor water use and do not water at all outdoors at this time.”

“Templeton is at critically low water levels due to the amount of water used to contain the fire at Templeton Feed and Grain,” the post read.

Historic Templeton Feed & Grain is the heart of downtown

Templeton Feed & Grain has long been a San Luis Obispo County institution, with its iconic 80-foot grain elevator and grain silos standing proudly above Templeton’s Main Street for decades.

The original concrete building was built in 1912 and was used as a garage for Chevrolet vehicles and Illinois tractors, according to the Templeton Area Expansion Plan. It was converted to a granary in the 1930s.

Later, the towering structure that looms over South Main Street was added, giving the downtown its well-known look.

The building is located between 4th and 5th streets across from McPhee’s Grill.

Fire chief describes how fire spread through Templeton building

In an interview with The Tribune at around 1 a.m.., Templeton Fire Chief Tom Peterson said the agency was initially notified of a fire alarm at the building at 11:11 p.m. Friday.

The first unit on scene saw smoke and requested a full structure response, he said. They then began climbing into the building’s silo to further access the fire.

“Pretty much it’s a wood-structured building so it kinda took off from there,” Peterson said.

The fire then spread “real easily” through the top of the building’s silos, he said.

Though firefighters were still working to save the concrete portion of the building, it looked like the silos were going to be a total loss, he added.

When asked how old the building was, Peterson responded: “It’s old. Pretty old.”

It was as yet unclear what the cause of the fire was, he said, noting that investigators would hopefully be able to get camera footage from neighboring businesses to help determine how it started.

As of about 1:20 a.m., the flames no longer could be seen from the top of the building, though flickering could be seen deeper within the structures.

The flames had worked down from the room all the way to the ground. They could be seen raging in the warehouse through an open door along South Main Street.

Peterson said crews were likely to be at the scene until the “sun comes up.”

Onlookers gather to watch as flames burn iconic Templeton building

The fire erupted as residents were wrapping a day of Fourth of July celebrations in the North County town, which also hosted a parade earlier in the day.

Streets that were lined with American flags and filled with festivities were reduced to a community tragedy 12 hours later.

Everett Allred, who was watching the firefight from a nearby streetcorner, said he had just finished watching fireworks when during a late-night walk, his brother saw the Templeton Feed & Grain building “go up in flames.”

So Allred hurried down to the scene to see what was happening.

“At first it was only that top part, and then that slowly started spreading and collapsing,” he said motioning to the building’s tower. “I’m pretty sure it’s going to collapse tonight.”

At around midnight, flames could be seen erupting from the top of the building as firefighters on tall ladders made a valiant effort to save the historic structure.

The towering flames could be seen as far away as Highway 101, as a large plume of dark smoke poured from the top of the building.

As of 12:20 a.m., numerous engines were working to try to douse the flames with water, though they had difficulty accessing the uppermost portion of the building where the flames were strongest.

In a post on X, Cal Fire said its crews were responding to the second-alarm fire as part of an automatic aid agreement with Templeton Fire.

Other responding agencies were Atascadero, Paso Robles, San Miguel and San Luis Obispo city fire departments.

People were asked to avoid the area as operations continued.

This story was originally published July 5, 2025 at 1:52 PM.