Hundreds Flee Arson Fire Near Atascadero

A racing arson fire roared toward this Central California city Monday night, prompting several hundred people to flee and raining ash on nearby communities, authorities said.

Help was called in from around the state as firefighters fought to keep the blaze from destroying homes. About 950 firefighters were on the line, accompanied by water-dropping helicopters, said Glenda Powell, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry.

One hundred and twenty firefighters and 35 engines were dispatched to the scene from Orange County and the cities of Santa Ana, Westminster, La Habra, Huntington Beach, Fullerton, Anaheim and Garden Grove.

Another 130 were sent from the Los Angeles city and county departments to help battle the blaze.

“We have unconfirmed reports of structure loss,” said Forestry Department spokesman John Madden.

The fire nearly tripled in size in four hours to about 22,000 acres, said the Forestry Department’s Val Houdyshell.

U.S. 101, one of the state’s main north-south routes, was closed between San Luis Obispo and Atascadero, a town of about 23,000.

An eight-mile stretch that includes the southern end of Atascadero, the small community of Garden Farms and the ranching town of Santa Margarita were evacuated after the flames began racing toward them from neighboring Los Padres National Forest.

“There have been evacuations throughout the afternoon,” said Lt. Pat Hedges of the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department. He estimated that several hundred people had left by Monday night.

“They’re evacuating an area of probably 500 or 600 families,” said Betty Van Gorder, program coordinator for the San Luis Obispo County chapter of the Red Cross.

Times staff writer Mark I. Pinsky contributed to this report.