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Up to 1,400 Cal Poly Tech students have been evacuated from campus due to wildfires. Students in the Sierra Madre and Yosemite residence halls were forced to evacuate.
Cal Poly Tech officials say that the evacuated students are safe and are being moved to Mott Gym, which the school has turned into an evacuation center.
California fire departments say that the “Poly Fire” started around 3:20 PM on Tuesday, burning 97 acres as of Tuesday night. They also say the fire is about 20-percent contained.
Officials say the fire is approximately 80 acres and appears to be moving away from campus.
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via KSBY:
Air tankers will take off Wednesday morning to further douse the fire. Meanwhile, students have returned to their dorm rooms. Fire alarms sounded inside Sierra Madre and Yosemite residence halls shortly after the fire began Tuesday afternoon, surprising many living in the dorms.
“The fire was 30 feet away,” said Kennedy Skinner Plunkett, a Cal Poly freshman.
“Once we saw the brush burning, we ran back in and got our laptops and booked it out,” said Jonathan Uhler, a freshman at Cal Poly.
Many students grabbed their homework, technology, and, in some cases, pets.
“As soon as we heard the fire alarms, I immediately grabbed my fish and then I was like, ‘Well, I should probably grab my homework,'” Plunkett said.
Students were given the all clear to return to their dorms around 8 PM.
The San Luis Obispo City Fire Department says the main body of the fire is under control, however, they’ll continue be working on hot spots to ensure the fire doesn’t spark up again.
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