Madre Fire explodes in size to become California's biggest this year

A wildfire in California's San Luis Obispo County exploded in size Thursday, triggering evacuation orders and sending smoke plumes southeast into Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The big picture: The Madre Fire had grown to 35,530 acres on Thursday afternoon — surpassing January's destructive Los Angeles-area fires to become California's largest this year, as much of the state faces hot, dry conditions that raise the wildfire risk ahead of...