Crews focus on northern flank of Gifford Fire in SLO County as containment inches up
The largest wildfire in California continued to burn in southeastern San Luis Obispo County on Wednesday morning — scorching almost 84,000 acres of grass and brush while adding new evacuation orders.
The Gifford Fire had burned 83,932 acres by Wednesday morning, an increase of about 1,360-acre since Tuesday morning, according to Watch Duty.
The blaze was 9% contained as of Wednesday morning, and on Wednesday afternoon, five more county zones were added to the evcuation order list.
The fire sparked northeast of Santa Maria along the Highway 166 corridor on Friday, and by Monday, the fire was so large that its smoke could be seen from space.
While firefighters held the line at the southern edge of the blaze, the northern end of the fire appeared to spread on Wednesday morning, according to heat maps of the fire.
Officials said calmer winds helped firefighting efforts on the northern flank Tuesday night.
“Crews and dozers were successful in constructing containment lines north of the transmission lines to stop the forward progress of the fire,” a news release Wednesday morning said.
On the southern perimeter, officials said a contingency line two dozer blades wide was completed to Schoolhouse Ridge.
“Today’s operation priorities will focus on the northern flank to strengthen and improve containment lines constructed last night,” the news release said. “East of Huasna Valley in the northwestern quadrant, crews and dozers will continue to improve contingency and constructed containment fire lines. In the Buckhorn Ridge and Pine Canyon areas, crews continue to improve and strengthen containment lines and assess the area for structure defense.”
The San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District warned that smoke would impact air quality in SLO County on Wednesday, reaching Nipomo, the Five Cities area, the California Valley, the Carrizo Plain, Cuyama Valley and even as far as San Luis Obispo itself.
Evacuation orders were issued for 18 zones in San Luis Obispo County, and seven zones in Santa Barbara County.
In San Luis Obispo County, those zones included: LPF-011, LPF-013, LPF-015, LPF-016, LPF-017, LPF-019, SLC-225, SLC-239, SLC-240, SLC-264, SLC-297, SLC-298, SLC-335, SLC-336, SLC-337, LPF-018, LPF-014 and SLC-263.
In Santa Barbara County, those zones included: LPF-165, SBC-161A, SBC-163, SBC-167, SBC-159A, SBC-169-A and SBC-169B.
Evacuation warnings in SLO County include the following zones: LPF-002, LPF-003, LPF-009, LPF-010, LPF-012, SLC-224, SLC-225, SLC-239, SLC-240, SLC-261, SLC-262, SLC-264, SLC-298, SLC-311, SLC-312 and SLC-334.
As of Tuesday, temporary evacuation points were assembled at Benjamin Fox Elementary School in Santa Maria and the Cuyama Valley Family Resource Center in New Cuyama.
The Elks Rodeo Grounds were open for large animal evacuation at 4040 Highway 101, Santa Maria.
Highway 166 remained closed between Highway 101 and New Cuyama.
Fire officials also announced they would hold a community meeting Wednesday at 7 p.m. in New Cuyama at the Gifford Valley Recreation District office, 4885 Primero St., to provide updates and answer questions.
This story was originally published August 6, 2025 at 10:54 AM.
