The quick-moving Madre Fire northeast of Santa Maria burned 52,592 acres as of Thursday afternoon and was expected to keep Highway 166 closed between Central Coast and Cuyama Valley until Friday at least.
Federal incident commanders reported explosive growth of the blaze in its first day. The fire sparked shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday east of Rock Front Ranch off Highway 166, which is about 20 miles northwest of New Cuyama.
By Thursday afternoon, officials issued widespread evacuation warnings and orders for nearby communities, which affected several hundred people. Containment was reported at 10 percent.
The Bureau of Land Management closed all its lands in the Carrizo Plain National Monument to the public Thursday afternoon due to the fire.
The incident is located in southeastern San Luis Obispo County but within federal jurisdiction. The cause remained under investigation.
Officials expect to transition to unified command involving the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Cal Fire as of Friday.
An incident command post and base camp have been established at the Santa Maria Elks/Unocal Event Center at 4040 Highway 101.
During the Lake Fire, incident commanders set up a second command post at the Santa Maria Speedway, but had not done so as of Thursday.
Speedway officials said although the fires are affecting the community, the races planned for Saturday, July 5, are still on.
Overnight Growth
The fire burned actively overnight with primary fuels being grass, oak woodland, and chaparral brush, federal officials said.
Incident commanders expected extreme fire behavior again Thursday.
“The presence of dry, cured annual grasses will support high rates of spread with intense flame lengths. Alignment of slope and wind will further exacerbate fire behavior, creating challenging suppression conditions,” federal officials said.
Weather likely won’t help firefighters as hot conditions were expected again Thursday.
Highs will be in the mid- to upper 90s with minimum humidity near 20 percent. However, the forecast includes a 30 percent chance of minimum humidity between 12 to 15 percent.
Winds also could hamper firefighting efforts and aid fire behavior. Light winds in the morning will increase from the west, becoming gusty in the afternoon to evening with peak gusts between 20 mph and 25 mph, according to federal officials.
Incident Updates
Approximately 200 people have been evacuated and 50 structures were threatened according to Cal Fire. Evacuation orders and warnings for San Luis Obispo County can be found at www.readyslo.org.
An evacuation center has been set up at 13080 Soda Lake Road in the California Valley.
In Santa Barbara County, an evacuation warning has been issued for east of the Rock Front Area, west of Cottonwood Canyon Road, and south of Highway 166. For more information or to sign up for alerts, go to www.readysbc.org.
Numerous firefighting air tankers from throughout the state will again fly fire suppression missions as conditions allow.
They have been using the Santa Maria Public Airport so aircraft activity likely will be heard above the Santa Maria Valley once the marine layer lifts.
The force, now topping 300, fighting the fire is expected to grow later Thursday. The resources included 39 engines, four water tenders and two hand crews.
Here are tips for tracking fire evacuation maps and incident updates.
Check local air quality at https://www.ourair.org/.
The closed section of Highway 166, between Santa Maria and New Cuyama, connects the Central Coast with the Cuyama Valley and southern San Joaquin Valley.
