Oso Flaco Lake boardwalk closed after suspected arson 

While on a morning walk around the Oso Flaco Lake on Jan. 21, SLO County resident Donna Maccarley and her family decided to head for the boardwalk and make their way to the beach.

But Maccarley's family couldn't head past a certain point, because the boardwalk was closed and appeared to be burned.

click to enlarge

• Photo Courtesy Of Donna MacCarley
• BURNED OUT A section of boardwalk at Oso Flaco Lake was recently set on fire, and it will take crews until mid to late February to finish repairing it.

Chief Ranger and District Superintendent of the California State Parks Oceano Dunes District Kevin Pearce told New Times that park rangers responded to a call on Jan. 6 a little bit after 7 a.m., and when rangers arrived, Cal Fire was already on the scene extinguishing the fire.

"We had to call our fire marshal investigator to come out as part of an arson investigation," he said. "We do have reports of suspected arson and that portion of the boardwalk is closed for public safety concerns."

Pearce said no arrests have been made but there is an ongoing arson investigation. Although the investigation is active, crews are allowed to move forward with repairs.

"We have staffers scheduling some demolition on part of that damaged structure this week, and we have some other workloads on the schedule," he said. "We have material on the corridor to repair it, and we're hoping to have the work completed and the boardwalk reopened sometime in mid to late February."

Oso Flaco Lake is an 800-acre day use area in the southern portion of the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area and is part of the 22,000 acre Guadalupe Nipomo Dunes Complex, according to the California State Parks website.

While the boardwalk will be closed until mid to late February, Pearce said community members still have access to alternative routes that will allow them to reach the beach or other parts of the park. Δ