A week after it started — and three days after it became California’s biggest wildfire of the year — the Gifford Fire was mapped at more than 100,000 acres.
As of Friday morning, the fire had burned 101,933 acres (159 square miles) in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties, with 15% containment, said fire managers for the U.S. Forest Service.
On Thursday, Gifford spread rapidly at its northwest corner, about 20 miles inland of Pismo Beach. Fire crews were forced to withdraw for safety reasons, the Forest Service report said, and evacuation orders were expanded. By the end of the day, the evacuation zone covered 840 square miles, including the rural community of Huasna and Lopez Lake Recreation Area. Almost 3,000 structures were threatened.
The map above shows Gifford’s evacuation area in red and the approximate fire perimeter as a black line. Shown as a gray tone is the perimeter of last month’s Madre Fire, previously the biggest fire of the year; it burned 80,779 acres in the Carrizo Plain area, just east of Gifford.
The Gifford Fire started on Friday, Aug. 1, along Highway 166 east of Santa Maria. The cause is under investigation.
The dry and windy weather that has contributed to the rapid spread is expected to continue through the weekend, with high temperatures near 100 and humidity below 20%.
For updates and details of the evacuation, including warning areas, see the Genasys Protect map for Santa Barbara County or the San Luis Obispo County emergency site.
A community meeting about the fire is scheduled for 7 to 8 p.m. Friday at Branch Elementary School in Arroyo Grande. It will be streamed on the Los Padres National Forest Facebook account.
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