Madre Fire grows to 52,932 acres, largest in California this year
In terms of size, the Madre Fire is the largest wildfire in California this year, surpassing January's Palisades and Eaton fires of 51,490 acres in densely populated Los Angeles County, Cal Fire said.
The wildfire was reported Wednesday afternoon in San Luis Obispo County and has since grown to 52,932 acres and was 10% contained as of Thursday night. On Wednesday, it was 200 acres but by early Thursday, it had grown to 35,530 acres and 5% contained.
The New Cuyama area is about 60 miles west of Bakersfield and 50 miles east of Santa Maria. Despite being 125 miles northwest of Los Angeles, smoke was extending into Southern California. The South Coast Air Quality Management District on Thursday afternoon issued a smoke advisory for the Los Angeles area, including Santa Clarita, the San Gabriel Valley and the San Bernardino Mountains.
'With the current weather, terrain, and fuel conditions this fire has seen exponential growth in less than 24 hours in multiple counties surrounding the San Luis Obispo County area,' the U.S. Forest Service - Los Padres National Forest posted on Facebook on Thursday afternoon. 'Smoke impacts will be far-reaching.'
The cause remains under investigation.
Residents in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties have received evacuation orders and warnings. An evacuation center was set up at the California Valley Community Services District.
All Bureau of Land Management lands in Carrizo Plain National Monument are closed for public access.
Fifty structures have been threatened, according to Cal Fire.
Video from the University of California UC San Diego's ALERTCalifornia camera network shows the fire spreading rapidly across the Carrizo Plain.
'The winds are pretty light during the day, but they do pick up pretty substantially in the afternoon and evening hours,' Ryan Kittell, with the National Weather Service, told KTLA-TV.
The 594 firefighters are contending with high winds.
Friday's forecast in the area is a high of 75 degrees with humidity of 81% and calm winds, the National Weather Service said.
Bakersfield is forecast for a high in the lower 90s after a 102-degree high on Thursday.
Resources include 41 fire engines, 14 hand crews, five water tenders, four helicopters and seven bulldozers.
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