The Madre Fire, pushed by strong winds, has burned almost 80,000 acres, according to CalFire, and was 30 percent contained. Smoke drifted as far south as metropolitan Los Angeles, prompting the South Coast Air Quality Management District to issue advisories.
Officials are still investigating the cause of the wildfire, which started spreading on Wednesday after it began near Cuyama and State Route 166, which joins the Central Coast to the southern San Joaquin Valley.
Nearly 1,400 firefighting personnel and 34 fire crews are battling the blaze as well as aircraft used to slow the spread, CalFire reported Sunday.
Also, some 150 National Guard troops, who were deployed amid the immigration raid protests in Los Angeles, were directed to fight wildfires, according to the U.S. Northern Command.
The U.S. Forest Service posted a warning late in the week after the fire started:
San Luis Obispo County and now Kern County are experiencing various levels of evacuations. Please follow all advisories, warnings, and orders promptly. As we approach the holiday weekend, the Madre Fire, the largest of 2025, is a stark reminder of potential dangers. With increased visitor use and hot, dry weather, we remind the public to exercise caution around any sources that can create sparks.
While the Madre Fire may be the largest when it comes to affected acreage, it is unlikely it will be as deadly and as devastating to homeowners as the Los Angeles-area fires in January, as it impacts a less-densely populated region.
According to news reports, the Palisades and Eaton fires in January burned less than 40,000 acres, but resulted in 30 deaths, forced more than 200,000 residents to evacuate, and obliterated more than 12,000 structures.
As Breitbart News reported, critics blamed Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) and other officials for poor fire management and lack of water resources that contributed to the massive destruction by those blazes.
Contributor Lowell Cauffiel escaped the Palisades fire, but within hours the January firestorm entirely destroyed his coastal home. He is the best-selling author of Below the Line and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more
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