The fire sparked in the Los Padres National Forest in San Luis Obispo County and was growing exponentially, officials warned. The area is mostly uninhabited.

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

A California wildfire that started on Wednesday afternoon continues to burn, having destroyed over 35,000 acres as of Thursday afternoon, with only a tiny portion contained. California has already been hit with massive wildfires this year,

A California court delivered a strong fine to Google over its "misuse" of Android users' data over cell connections.