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Central Coast Brush Fire Nearly Doubles In Size To 6,000 Acres

Photo by Santa Barbara County Fire Department
Alamo Fire burning at night

A brush fire burning in two counties on the Central Coast has nearly doubled in size overnight to 6,000 acres.

Cal Fire officials say more than 1,000 firefighters are battling the Alamo Fire, which is located around the Santa Barbara County-San Luis Obispo County line near Highway 166 and Twitchell Reservoir. Five helicopters are dropping water and four fixed-wing aircraft are dropping retardent in an effort to contain the fire.

The fire began Thursday afternoon, and firefighters aided by air tankers stopped the spread of the flames by around sunset Thursday night. But, extreme heat, gusty winds and low humidity contributed to flareups, with the fire going from 175 acres Thursday night to 3,000 acres Friday night to 6,000 Saturday morning. Containment is still at 10%.

A huge plume of smoke from the blaze is visible in the Santa Maria area, even thought the fire is several miles away in a remote canyon area. While the area is sparsely populated, a mandatory evacuation order is in place for Blazing Saddles and the White Rock areas, and evacuation warnings are in effect for the Tepesquet and Buckhorn areas. The American Red Cross has opened a shelter for evacuees.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.