Templeton’s famous Feed and Grain building was destroyed in a fire over the Fourth of July, which the town’s fire department confirmed was caused by illegal fireworks.
Templeton Fire Chief Tom Pederson told New Times that an investigation into the suspects was ongoing.
The Feed and Grain fire started at around 11 p.m. on July 4, when firefighters countywide responded to the call as flames engulfed the building located at 405 Main Street.
For about five days the building smoldered as the Community Services District (CSD) worked out its demolition, with the remaining embers catching fire as they caught more oxygen. But by July 9, District Manager Jeff Briltz said, the building, which is featured on the district’s logo, had been demolished.
“It’s certainly sad to our community,” Briltz said. “Visually, the Feed and Grain was such an imposing image of Templeton right in the center of our downtown—this historic building, and quite honestly, a business, that is so critical and so important to so many folks in the area.”
Briltz said there were multiple calls, witnesses, and videos of fireworks being used near the Feed and Grain that night, but he couldn’t confirm any further details about the investigation.
According to a statement from the SLO County Sheriff’s Office, surveillance videos place four to six suspects near the scene of the fire, but it was still working to identify them, along with individuals in a nearby vehicle.
District Manager Briltz said that fireworks are a known problem in Templeton since the district still allows the sale of safe and sane ones.
Within SLO County, fireworks—even those deemed as safe and sane—are illegal in unincorporated areas like Oceano, Nipomo, Avila Beach, Cayucos, and Santa Margarita. But if an area has its own fire authority, like Templeton, it can enforce its own fireworks ordinances.
For many years, Briltz said Templeton has allowed safe and sane fireworks sales.
“Those issues came before the [CSD] board periodically over many years about whether that’s wise to allow, and our rules have continued to allow it, including for this year,” he said.
The CSD does not allow fireworks that shoot into the air, he said, although the district also has a problem with those.
“We don’t have the ability to even allow those. But people who live here and in neighboring communities obtain them somehow, some way,” he said.
After the loss of the iconic Feed and Grain building, Briltz said the board will likely reconsider its fireworks codes later this summer.
“I would guess that in the coming couple of months, that will be on our board’s agenda to talk about the policy of allowing safe and sane fireworks to be sold and used in Templeton,” he said, “and then also the enforcement of these unlawful fireworks.” Δ
This article appears in Jul 17-27, 2025.