A small vegetation fire blackened approximately 5 acres in the Santa Maria Riverbed on Tuesday afternoon before crews stopped the forward progression.

Shortly after 1 p.m., Cal Fire personnel from San Luis Obispo County responded to the incident in the riverbed east of Highway 101. The riverbed sits north of the Santa Maria city limits.

Personnel from the Santa Maria and Santa Barbara County fire departments also responded to the incident. 

Windy conditions aided the fire, which incident commanders said had the potential to grow to 7 acres.

Approximately one hour after arriving, firefighters had stopped the forward progress of the fire, Cal Fire officials said.

The blaze in the riverbed occurred two days after another fire burned 1 acre in the riverbed near Highway 101 Sunday.