The blaze is burning in a rural area of San Luis Obispo County, in the central coast, but its smoke has spread to nearby counties.
A wildfire in California’s San Luis Obispo County rapidly expanded overnight and was covering about 70,800 acres by Friday morning, prompting evacuation orders, closing part of a highway and sending thick smoke billowing into neighboring counties. It is the biggest wildfire the state has seen this year.
The blaze, called the Madre fire, started on Wednesday afternoon and is burning in a remote area in the mountains between the Central Coast and the Central Valley, in the Los Padres National Forest. It is near State Route 166, which connects the Central Coast to the southern San Joaquin Valley. A section of the highway has been closed, California’s Department of Transportation said.
The fire was about 10 percent contained as of Friday morning, according to Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting agency. There was no reported damage to any structures, Cal Fire said, and the cause of the fire was still under investigation.
Fifty structures were threatened and 213 people had been evacuated, said Toni Davis, a spokesperson for Cal Fire. There were 15 evacuation orders and 13 warnings for zones near the fire, and Cal Fire had issued five new evacuation warnings since Thursday, Davis said on Friday.
“This is a very rural area with ranch land, rolling hills, lots of grass,” Ms. Davis said. “The vegetation is very dry.”
