The massive Gifford Fire in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties is now on track to be one of the largest wildfires in recent fire seasons in California, and is just 7% contained as of Tuesday.
The Gifford Fire, which was sparked on Friday in the Los Padres National Forest — near the burn scar from the recent Madre Fire — has grown to 82,567 acres of Tuesday morning, and weather conditions suggest it will only grow larger in the coming days.
The fire has been burning in a mostly uninhabited area, miles to the east of the city of Santa Maria, but its perimeters continue expand where dry fuels remain. Los Padres National Forest firefighters continue to try to bulldoze containment lines, according to an incident report. And firefighters are hopeful that containment will be aided as the fire approaches the Madre Fire burn scar to the northeast — where less fuel remains.
More than 1900 firefighters are now battling the blaze.
Still, the fire has forced evacuation orders and warnings across a broad swath of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, and around 800 structures are currently threatened. One part of the southern flank of the fire is burning into the Cuyama Valley and toward the town of New Cuyama.
The LGBTQ-owned glamping site Cuyama Oaks Ranch, which was featured on Vaderpump Rules, is also not far from the evacuation zones, along with a number of other camping areas.
The Gifford Fire grew out of four smaller fires that were sparked for unknown reasons around the same time on Friday along State Route 166 between Santa Maria and Bakersfield.
As Flemming Bertelson, a spokesperson for the US Forest Service, said in a statement to the Guardian, "That gave us multiple fronts, and the flames started fanning out in many directions. The fire is gobbling up chaparral and brushland and running up very steep slopes."
A warming and drying trend over the next several days has fire officials concerned for the future growth of the fire.
The Madre Fire, which ultimately scorched 80,779 acres in San Luis Obispo County, was sparked on July 2 and was just fully contained on July 26.
The Gifford Fire already surpassed that size in the course of just three days.
