SLO County supervisors declare local emergency as Gifford Fire grows
As the Gifford Fire entered its eleventh day, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors issued a proclamation of a local emergency.
The fire, California’s largest of the year, had burned 119,070 acres and was 33% contained as of Monday morning, the Los Padres National Forest said in a news release.
The emergency declaration came as the county issued new evacuation orders for areas around Pozo Road, Santa Margarita Lake, Parkhill Road and River Road, west of the Los Padres National Forest.
Local emergency proclamations allow local governments to access additional resources to respond to an emergency and gives the ability to order mandatory evacuations, traffic control and restrictions on access to certain areas.
At Monday’s emergency meeting, District 3 Supervisor and board chair Dawn Ortiz-Legg thanked first responders who have helped battle the “mega fire” on the Central Coast.
Supervisor Jimmy Paulding, whose District 4 is heavily impacted by the wildfires, praised the first responders’ work on the fire so far.
“Having attended some of the community meetings facilitated by our first responders, my comment is how impressed I am with the overall operation and response,” Paulding said. “They’re doing an amazing job, both the federal, state and local level, and I couldn’t be more proud.”
Gifford Fire officials will host a community meeting at the Veterans Memorial Building in San Luis Obispo at 7 p.m. on Monday night to provide an update on the current situation and address questions.
The meeting will also be broadcast virtually on Los Padres National Forest YouTube and Facebook.
Questions from the community should be submitted in advance to 2025.gifford@firenet.gov.
This story was originally published August 11, 2025 at 11:40 AM.
