Alisal Fire forces evacuations, shuts down portion of Highway 101 in Southern California

Hundreds of firefighters are battling a brush fire that sparked west of Santa Barbara, forced evacuations and shut down a portion of Highway 101, CBS Los Angeles reports.

The blaze broke out before 2:30 p.m. Monday amid powerful winds near Alisal Lake in the Santa Ynez Mountains. It was burning in dense chaparral, brush and grass.

The fire had exploded to 6,000 acres as of Tuesday morning, according to Santa Barbara County Fire Department spokesperson Mike Eliason. There is no containment.