Overview

• Evacuation orders cover about 200 residents as the fire threatens dozens of buildings across rural San Luis Obispo County.
• Local communities remain traumatized by January’s megafires in the Los Angeles region that claimed 30 lives, heightening concern over this blaze.
• Officials attribute the fire’s rapid growth to an unusually dry winter and spring that left vegetation tinder-dry.
• Budget cuts under President Trump to FEMA, NOAA and the U.S. Forest Service have reduced preventive measures such as controlled burns and brush clearing.
• Meteorologists warn that forecasted high temperatures and gusty winds could challenge firefighters’ efforts to control the flames.