Cal Fire says Poly Fire is 100 percent contained

LATEST UPDATES

[2:00 p.m. PDT Sept. 29, 2017] Cal Fire officials Twitted Friday afternoon that the Poly Fire is now 100 percent contained. The fire, which broke out Sept. 26, scorched 105 acres.

[4:20 p.m. PDT Sept. 28, 2017] The Poly Fire is 95 percent contained as of late Thursday afternoon. Acreage stands at 105. Fire engines will be patrolling the area tonight but full containment is now expected Friday.

[5:18 p.m. PDT Sept. 27, 2017] The Poly Fire is now 90 percent contained and has burned 105 acres in size. Cal Fire officials say weather conditions are favorable Wednesday evening and are expecting full containment on Thursday. Approximately 70 firefighters remain on scene.

[7:30 a.m. PDT Sept. 27, 2017] The Poly fire is now 60 percent contained with 97 acres burned, according to Cal Fire San Luis Obispo.

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[8:30 p.m. PDT Sept. 26, 2017] Poly Fire has burned about 97 acres and is 20 percent contained. Around 8 p.m. Tuesday, students and people who live nearby were allowed to go back home and roads that were closed were re-opened.

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ORIGINAL POST

Emergency crews responded to a brush fire reported near the dorms at Cal Poly Tuesday afternoon.

The fire broke out just before 3:30 p.m. Students were safely evacuated from the Sierra Madre and Yosemite halls. Cal Poly President Jeffrey D. Armstrong Twitted that all students are safe.

Cal Fire San Luis Obispo said the fire scorched approximately 20 acres according to an aerial read conducted at 3:50 p.m. By 4:42 p.m., the fire known as the Poly Fire, grew to 40 acres, and by 6 p.m. the fire doubled in size to 80 acres. By 9 p.m. the Poly Fire had burned about 97 acres.

“We just heard a parking ranger say no no you can’t go there, there’s a fire,” Cal Poly student Declan Mages said.

Declan Mages was driving home from the school library.

“And we both just turned to the left and the whole hill was on fire,” Mages said.

The hill was on fire and dangerously close to the iconic Cal Poly “P” and two dorms halls.

“I was inside watching a movie and they came inside screaming, there’s a fire, there’s a fire,” Cal Poly student Elan Sherman said.

These guys weren’t surprised though.

“It kind of makes sense where it started because it’s exactly where students hangout..
the fact that it’s happened it’s almost surprising it hasn’t happened before with how dry it’s been recently,” Mages said.

In all, 15 fire engines, four hand crews, two water tenders, two bulldozers, and several aircraft have been used to fight this fire. The aggressive fire attack has slowed the blaze down officials said.

Cal Fire officials said the Poly Fire started behind the campus dorms and began making its way to Highway 1 and Cuesta Park.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. The Cal Poly Department of Emergency Management is asking that Sierra Madre and Yosemite hall residents that are off campus call 805-756-1226 to check in with Housing.

Check back for continued updates on this developing story. Watch a live video feed below.