A fire that started Wednesday afternoon in Central California reached 35,000 acres within 12 hours, becoming the state’s biggest wildfire of the season.
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The Madre Fire was reported shortly after noon Wednesday, July 2, along Highway 166 about 25 miles east of Santa Maria. The first evacuation orders were issued around 3:30 p.m., and by 1 a.m. Thursday the order covered 250 square miles of largely uninhabited land near Carrizo Plain.
The map above shows the evacuation area in red and the approximate perimeter as a black line. As of Thursday morning, Highway 166 was closed between Highway 101 and the community of New Cuyama.
Late Wednesday, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection estimated the fire’s size at 35,530 acres (55 square miles). Previously, the biggest fire of the year was Palisades, at 23,448 acres.
For the latest updates and details of evacuations, including warning areas, see the emergency website of San Luis Obispo County or Santa Barbara County.