Santa Barbara County Fire Department crews responded to a vegetation fire in Tepusquet Canyon Tuesday night that had burned an estimated 15-20 acres as of 8 p.m.

The blaze was reported at 7:23 p.m. on the 4500 block of Tepusquet Road, east of Santa Maria, according to emergency responders.

Evacuations were ordered for the 5000 block of Tepusquet Road, which were later downgraded to warnings, County Fire officials said.

Forward progress of the blaze was reported stopped at about 9:45 p.m., and crews from Santa Barbara County and Santa Maria fire departments remained at the scene.

The cause was under investigation.

California Highway Patrol and Caltrans officials closed the roadway between Santa Maria Mesa Road and Highway 166 for several hours during the fire response.

Officials had ended the evacuation warnings and road closures as of 10 p.m.

The National Weather Service Los Angeles Office had warned of elevated fire danger in the region Tuesday due to a “very dry air mass and critically dry fuels/plants.”

The blaze had the potential to burn 100 acres, County Fire officials said, but the eventual burn area reportedly was about 42 acres.

This is a developing story. Noozhawk will report updates as more information becomes available.  

The County Office of Emergency Management typically posts evacuation and wildfire incident-related information on its website https://www.readysbc.org/.