The Madre Fire ignited Wednesday afternoon in San Luis Obispo County and has since grown to more than 35,500 acres, according to Cal Fire.

A rapidly spreading wildfire in Southern California quickly became the state’s largest fire of the year after igniting on Wednesday, leading to evacuations.

A wildfire in a wilderness area of central California exploded in size as dry, hot weather Thursday raised the fire risk for large portions of the state ahead of the July Fourth holiday. The Madre Fire became California’s largest blaze so far this year,