Major-injury crash, vegetation fire close Highway 101 in SLO County

A vegetation fire and major-injury crash closed portions of Highway 101 near San Miguel on Sunday afternoon.

The incident began around 3 p.m. near southbound Highway 101 and the 10th Street off-ramp in San Miguel, where crews responded to a roadside vegetation fire near Cemetery Road and Highway 101.

Cal Fire and the San Luis Obispo County Fire Department said the vegetation fire burned about 4 acres with a moderate rate of spread.

California Highway Patrol Sgt. Charlie McMichael said the incident began when a truck towing a trailer suffered a tire blowout.

Heavy smoke from the vegetation fire reduced visibility to near zero and contributed to a five-vehicle chain-reaction crash, McMichael said.

By about 3:31 p.m., CHP logs indicated a four-vehicle collision had blocked both southbound lanes of Highway 101. Dispatchers later reported northbound lanes were closed because of near-zero visibility.

McMichael said both northbound and southbound lanes were closed for about an hour while CHP officers conducted round-robin traffic control, temporarily escorting groups of vehicles through the smoke.

Two people were transported to Adventist Health Sierra Vista in San Luis Obispo, one with major head injuries. Other parties involved reported complaints of pain.

The incident was later upgraded to a major-injury crash, according to CHP logs.

A CHP Templeton Facebook post said southbound Highway 101 was closed in the San Miguel and northern Paso Robles area following a four-vehicle major-injury collision involving fire.

Traffic was diverted at Mission Street, with the closure point near 10th Street.

McMichael said both northbound and southbound lanes were closed for about an hour while CHP officers conducted round-robin traffic control through the smoke.

By about 5:10 p.m., CHP logs indicated both directions of Highway 101 had reopened with round-robin traffic control still in effect.

Emergency crews continued working Sunday evening as smoke gradually cleared from the area and congested traffic subsided.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.