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Vegetation fire burns 100 acres in rural SLO County

The Bear Fire ignited near a solar farm in the California Valley, sending up dark plumes of smoke in San Luis Obispo County on May 21, 2026.
The Bear Fire ignited near a solar farm in the California Valley, sending up dark plumes of smoke in San Luis Obispo County on May 21, 2026. ALERT California

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Authorities responded to a vegetation fire in rural San Luis Obispo County on Thursday evening.

The Bear Fire was reported around 4:48 p.m. near the intersection of Black Bear Road and Gypsum Trail in California Valley, according to emergency response website Watch Duty.

The fire burned 154 acres before being contained shortly after 9 p.m., according to Cal Fire.

The fire burned in grass near the California Valley Solar Ranch, sending up dark plumes of smoke seen from the ALERTCalifornia fire cameras.

Cal Fire encouraged travelers in a post on X to avoid the area if possible and watch for emergency responders and equipment.

Current Southern California wildfires

This map shows wildfires that have been updated within the past 7 days from the Integrated Reporting of Wildland-Fire Information (IRWIN) and the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). The larger the circle, the larger the wildfire by acres. Data is from the US Department of the Interior, Office of Wildland Fire, IRWIN, NIFC, NASA, NOAA and ESRI.

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Steve Wilson swilson@star-telegram.com

This story was originally published May 21, 2026 at 5:40 PM.

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Sadie Dittenber
The Tribune
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Sadie Dittenber writes about education for The Tribune and is a California Local News Fellow through the UC Berkeley School of Journalism. Dittenber graduated from The College of Idaho with a degree in international political economy.
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