UPDATE (12:32 p.m.) - CAL FIRE SLO reports that the fire is now contained and a total of three acres burned.
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(10:34 a.m.) - For the third day in a row, firefighters are responding to a grass fire in the Santa Maria Riverbed.
The fire broke out at around 9:15 a.m. on the east side of Highway 101.
According to CAL FIRE SLO, as of 10:25 a.m., it had burned about 1/4 acre and forward progress was stopped.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
It's the fourth fire to break out in the riverbed area since Sunday.
Sunday's fire burned about one acre; a fire on Tuesday burned approximately five acres; and a fire on Wednesday burned two acres.
