Madre Fire, California's biggest this year, surges to 52,000 acres
The Madre Fire is the state's biggest so far this year. It has been burning along State Route 166 in the Los Padres National Forest, mostly north of the highway into the Carrizo Plain National Monument. The route has been closed between its junction with Route 101 in the city of Santa Maria and the town of New Cuyama.
The area is mostly uninhabited, but more than 200 people had been evacuated and about 50 structures were threatened, San Luis Obispo County Fire Department said on Thursday. The fire was 10 percent contained as of Thursday night.
The fire had seen 'exponential growth in less than 24 hours' because of weather, terrain and fuel conditions, the U.S. Forest Service in Los Padres National Forest said Thursday, when the fire was at 35,530 acres. It warned that 'smoke impacts will be far-reaching.'
Gov. Gavin Newsom's press office said that the state was working with federal agencies and had sent 'significant air support' and ground crews to battle the blaze. Cal Fire said it had deployed four helicopters, almost 600 personnel and more than 50 firefighting vehicles.
Smoke from the blaze was blowing over Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, south of the fire, the National Weather Service in Los Angeles said shortly after it began. Smoke was also impacting Kern County to the fire's northeast, officials there said.
The state faced highly destructive wildfires in January in Los Angeles that killed about 30 people and destroyed thousands of homes and other buildings. There are fears hot and dry conditions could create an intense fire season this summer.
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