The Madre Fire has grown to 70,800 acres as of Friday afternoon. According to an afternoon update by Cal Fire, the wildfire remained at 10% containment. It has also destroyed one outbuilding, the agency said. Flames from the Madre Fire send a towering plume of smoke into the sky in eastern San Luis Obispo County on July 2, 2025.

California’s largest wildfire of the year grew to an estimated 70,801 acres Friday, producing smoke that has affected millions of residents across the southern part of the state. The Madre Fire in San Luis Obispo County erupted early Wednesday afternoon near the small town of New Cuyama along Highway 166 on the Carrizo Plain,