The Madre Fire, now the largest wildfire in California this year, expanded to 79,630 acres by Saturday, July 5, prompting expanded evacuation orders and worsening air quality across parts of

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

A rapidly growing wildfire in California’s San Luis Obispo County has scorched more than 52,600 acres, becoming the state’s largest blaze this year. Known as the Madre fire, it began in a remote mountainous area of the Los Padres National Forest near State Route 166,