The fire rapidly spread to over 35,000 acres overnight as it burned through grasslands in a section of the Los Padres National Park. By around 9:30 p.m. PT on July 3, the fire expanded to ...

The Madre Fire was reported shortly after noon Wednesday, July 2, along Highway 166 about 25 miles east of Santa Maria.

At the outset of the blaze, the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Office estimated that some 500 acres were already burned at the scene, near the 10000 block of Highway 166 in the Los Padres National Forest.