Firefighter injured in SLO County as containment on Madre Fire creeps up
The largest fire in the nation continued to burn in southeastern San Luis Obispo County on Tuesday morning — injuring one firefighter.
Firefighters held the line through the night, preventing the blaze from significantly expanding.
The Madre Fire had burned 80,603 acres by Tuesday morning, which was an increase of only 124 acres from Monday — with containment rising to 35%, according to the the Watch Duty app.
The blaze injured one firefighter, destroyed one outbuilding and threatened 50 other structures, according to Cal Fire’s incident report. No residents have been harmed in the blaze, Cal Fire said.
The fire sparked near Highway 166 in New Cuyama on Wednesday afternoon, rapidly expanding to engulf 35,000 acres by Wednesday evening.
Westerly winds pushed the blaze uphill towards the Carrizo Plain National Monument, burning quickly through dry grass and shrubs lining the Highway 166 corridor.
Evacuation orders remained in place for multiple zones on Tuesday, including LPF-017, SLC-226, SLC-240, SLC-263, SLC-264, SLC-265, SLC-298, SLC-299, SLC-300, SLC-312, SLC-313, SLC-337, SLC-338, SLC-339 and SLC-358, according to the Watch Duty app.
An evacuation warning was issued for nearby areas in San Luis Obispo County and Santa Barbara County, too. Warnings for Kern County were lifted on Monday.
As of Monday, 1,573 personnel had been assigned to the fire, U.S. Forest Service spokesperson Nathan Judy said at a press briefing.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation, Cal Fire said.
This story was originally published July 8, 2025 at 11:05 AM.
