Three brush fires broke out in San Luis Obispo on Monday, two near Cal Poly and one in the hills just above San Luis Obispo High School — prompting evacuations of residents and students in the area.
The Lizzie Fire, the largest of the three fires in the area, broke out around 2:45 p.m. on the 1400 block of San Luis Drive above San Luis Obispo High School.
“Upon arrival, crews reported an approximately five-acre vegetation fire burning in the hills above the school, moving in the south, southwesterly direction,” said James Blattler, the City of San Luis Obispo emergency manager.
This caused evacuation orders along with evacuation warnings to the surrounding areas. Around 3:25 p.m., evacuation orders went out to people south of Lizzie Street, east of Fixlini Street and north of Bishop Street.
Firefighters were able to keep the fire from spreading to nearby homes.
Firefighting air assets were seen in the area throughout the afternoon, dropping fire retardant and water along the hillsides.
The fire burned 100 acres and was 10% contained as of Monday night.
"We didn't feel like we were immediately threatened by this fire because we had the firemen with the hoses and a lot of people came," Fred Glick, a San Luis Obispo resident, said. "But, we were getting a lot of ashes and a lot of spot fires coming up in our yard that we put out. It only got a little worrisome when those eucalyptus trees started exploding around us.”
Fire officials said trees were torched in the fire and flames reached 100 feet tall — the wind caused eucalyptus tree leaves to fall, creating additional small fires.
“I was waiting for that tree to go up," Glick said. "I mean, we’ve been watching that tree and have been like they need to cut that thing down.”
More than 3,000 PG&E customers are without power in San Luis Obispo due to the Lizzie Fire. A spokesperson for PG&E said two poles were damaged.
Blattler said others were de-energized due to safety risks and that the power may remain off for some customers overnight.
Fire officials said the fire continues to be a threat so crews will remain on scene throughout Monday night and stay hypervigilant when it comes to addressing hot spots.
“We have an additional 300 firefighters that will be on the scene tomorrow morning ready to address any issues that are there," Blattler said. "And we'll also have a reconnaissance flight from CAL FIRE that will be here in the morning to survey the scene as well.”
Blattler said residents need to be aware of their surroundings and ready to go with a bag that has supplies as conditions can change.
"Fire officials don't expect any evacuation warnings to be issued overnight," he said. "However, it's really important to know that weather conditions could change, fire conditions could change, and that would prompt fire officials to issue evacuation warnings.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Cal Poly Fires
Two separate fires broke out in the agricultural areas at the edge of Cal Poly's campus — one near Highway 1 and Stenner Creek Road and the other between the university's lemon orchard and Mustang Village apartments.
The fire near Stenner Creak Road was reportedly burning in Stenner Creek and burned about half an acre.
Officials at Cal Poly said the fire was not an immediate safety concern for the campus community.
The causes of the two fires are under investigation, as well.
