Six days after the Madre Fire forced the temporary closure of Highway 166, the road connecting the Central Coast to the Cuyama Valley reopened Tuesday evening.
The fire, now 80,615 acres, started shortly after 1 p.m. July 2 north of the highway and 40 miles northwest of Santa Maria, exhibiting extreme behavior as flames raced across land filled with tall dry grass and chaparral amid hot, windy conditions.
After initially shutting one lane to accommodate firefighting equipment on the narrow two-lane route, officials closed the road to most traffic, only allowing residents with proper identification.
On Monday night, fire officials said the highway likely would reopen Tuesday. Caltrans said they expected to allow traffic to begin flowing again at approximately 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Initially authorities closed the stretch between Highway 101 and the Cuyama Valley, and then they included the area from Maricopa to the San Luis Obispo/Kern counties line.
Typically, a long holiday weekend would see heavy traffic along the highway the southern San Joaquin Valley residents seek to beat the heat in the cooler coastal climate.
“Drivers are urged to use caution when traveling through the fire area,” Caltrans officials said. “Firefighters, heavy equipment, and support crews may still be active along the roadway, and smoke may be visible.”
The reopened road was just one sign of fire suppression progress.
Containment reached 55%, Cal Fire officials said Tuesday afternoon.
“Winds on Monday reignited some of the unburned fuel in the interior of the fire, but no communities or property were threatened,” U.S. Forest Service representatives said. “Some interior pockets continue to smolder. Expect to see more smoke as temperatures increase over the next few days.”
Crews continued to cope with small to moderate-sized areas of growth along the southeastern and northwestern portions of the fire perimeter.
Additionally, moderate-sized areas of intense fire were detected along the southeastern edges of the perimeter plus large areas of scattered fire are within the southeastern and northwestern portions of the fire zone.
The fire threatened 50 structures with one outbuilding destroyed.
One firefighter also was hurt but the extent of the injuries weren’t provided.
A Santa Barbara County evacuation warning for an area east of Rock Front, west of Cottonwood Canyon Road, and south of Highway 166 has been lifted as of Tuesday evening.
Evacuation orders and warnings for San Luis Obispo County also have been eased.
The fire burned in San Luis Obispo County but threatened areas in both Santa Barbara and Kern counties.