The Gifford Fire burning in eastern San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties has now grown to be the largest California wildfire this year, surpassing the 80,000 acres burned in the Madre Fire last month.
The fire, which sparked Friday afternoon, has now grown to 82,567 acres and was 7% contained as of 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, according to InciWeb. The fire grew nearly 20,000 acres in 24 hours, with 10,000 of those acres growing since around 4 p.m. Monday.
On Monday, smoke from the fire could be seen from space.
Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant has also reduced power on one of its units to 46% due to the fire and its proximity to transmission lines in San Luis Obispo County, PG&E spokesperson Carina Corral told The Tribune in an email.
Operators elected to reduce power to support grid reliability and reduce potential risks to the transmissions system, Corral said. The other unit is operating at full power and there is no impact to plant safety, she added.
Current Southern California wildfires
This map shows wildfires that have been updated within the past 7 days from the Integrated Reporting of Wildland-Fire Information (IRWIN) and the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC). The larger the circle, the larger the wildfire by acres. Data is from the US Department of the Interior, Office of Wildland Fire, IRWIN, NIFC, NASA, NOAA and ESRI.
Steve Wilson [email protected]
The fire extends on both sides of Highway 166 from Aliso Creek and Cuyama Highway to the Carrizo Plain National Monument near the Gifford Trailhead, approximately 30 miles east of Santa Maria.
Highway 166 East remained closed between Highway 101 and Highway 33, according to fire officials.
As of Saturday, three people had been injured in the fire.
How are crews battling the Gifford Fire?
On Tuesday, fire officials said in a news release that the Gifford Fires is a “full suppression fire, with the primary focus on protecting lives, property, rangeland and cultural resources.”
Firefighters planned to continue to construct a fire line in the southern portions of the fire using La Brea Road and scout historic containment lines on the eastern side from Miranda Pine Mountain to Cuyama Valley, the release said.
Crews were providing structure protection for critical properties at risk in School House and Cottonwood Canyons, the release said.
Meanwhile on the western flank of the fire, crews were carving dozer lines and firefighters were looking for opportunities to build containment lines at the fire’s edge.
Contingency lines on the northern flank were established to prevent the fire from spreading into the Manchesna Wilderness, the release said.
Hot and dry conditions were forecasted to remain through Tuesday with little change, fire officials said, and onshore winds were expected to push into the area in the afternoon, which could impact fire behavior.
What parts of SLO County need to evacuate?
Fire officials said residents should watch for changing conditions due to “erratic fire behavior.”
Ten San Luis Obispo County zones were under evacuation orders while 12 were under evacuation warnings.
Temporary evacuation points were located at Benjamin Foxen Elementary School, 4949 Foxen Canyon Road in Santa Maria, and at Cuyama Valley Family Resource Center, 4689 CA-166B, New Cuyama.
The centers offer N-95 masks, water, fire information and relief from heat, according to Ready SLO.
A large animal shelter was located at Elks Rodeo Grounds, 4040 Highway 101, Santa Maria. Those with large animals should enter from Morningside Drive and proceed to Gate 2.
Small household pets can be sheltered at 548 W Foster Road, Santa Maria; 1501 W Central Ave., Lompoc; 5473 Overpass Road, Goleta; and 111 Commerce Drive, Buellton.
San Luis Obispo County residents in the following zones remained under an evacuation order:
San Luis Obispo County residents in the following zones remained under an evacuation warning:
For more information, visit ReadySLO.org/GiffordFire.