Lopez Lake is now under an official evacuation order.
County officials said all visitors must evacuate the campground immediately due to the Gifford Fire, which is approaching 100,000 acres and is just 15% contained.
An evacuation order is a lawful directive to leave the area immediately due to an imminent threat.
County officials issued the update Thursday afternoon, saying all reservations scheduled from Aug. 7 through Aug. 21 will be canceled. Full refunds will be issued automatically.
Public access to Lopez Lake is closed until further notice.
"Thank you for your cooperation and understanding during this emergency," county officials said in the update. "Your safety is our top priority, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."
Visitors react to the potential evacuation order
KSBY's Makayla Richardson visited Lopez Lake on Thursday morning before an evacuation order went into effect late Thursday afternoon.
During the morning hours, rangers at Lopez Lake stopped allowing new campers to come in.
KSBY spoke with Katie Gallegos and her family, who said they were making the most out of the lake before the evacuation warning became an order.
“We're going to try to go boating until we're kicked out basically,” Gallegos said. "Definitely safety first for sure. Watching the smoke come over. I mean, it's been a little disheartening to watch because we booked these trips a year in advance.“
Gallegos said they have been camping since Saturday, and the evacuation warnings began Wednesday night. They have not been notified by the rangers on site, but say they’ve noticed emergency services.
“Oddly, by the site we're seeing the bulldozers go by,” she said. “The sheriffs are circulating a lot. The county workers — they're everywhere. It kind of makes you feel like, 'Oh, this is serious, you know?'”
A few miles away in Husana, emergency services and residents are preparing in case the Gifford fire spreads to the area
Tom Arons is a resident just inside the evacuation border.
“We're busy just trying to clear everything we can,” Arons said. “Any brush branches, I'll be doing what a lot of our neighbors, unfortunately, up the canyon have to do. We’re chain sawing, trying to get away any anything that could possibly touch the house.”
Arons said under such serious conditions, it's difficult to process people voluntarily staying in a dangerous area.
“I cannot even imagine,” Arons said. “We love Lopez Lake. I get that you get the illusion you're looking at the water. You think, hey, I'm good. There's plenty of water to protect me. But those canyons that fire could rush down there at any moment. I do not understand why anyone who's not trying to protect their house would be voluntarily up there right now.”
Gallegos says they are staying because they work hard to make this annual summer trip happen.
“Especially with the economy,” Gallegos said. “Like, you put every penny into what you can and have those reserves. It's a big deal for us. Like this is not something we take lightly — this is our annual trip. The only thing that we do.”
KSBY's Makayla Richardson reached out to the San Luis Obispo County Parks and Recreation Department, but they were unavailable for an interview.
