Smoke from Gifford Fire is visible from space. See the video
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- NOAA satellite captures smoke from Gifford Fire visible over Southern California.
- Gifford Fire spans over 65,000 acres, ranking second among 2025 California wildfires.
- Winds push smoke south over Santa Barbara, Channel Islands and Ventura County.
California’s largest active wildfire — burning in San Luis Obispo County — is so large, the smoke can be seen from space.
Video from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s GOES-West satellite shows plumes of smoke emerging from the Gifford Fire, which was burning on the border with Santa Barbara County.
At 66,985 acres as of Monday morning, the Gifford Fire has become the second-largest fire in California this year — with the first also burning in SLO County. The Madre Fire finished at 80,799 acres in July, its still-new scar sitting just east of where the Gifford Fire was burning.
Satellite footage from Friday showed winds out of the northwest pushing a steady cloud of smoke south over the coast of Santa Barbara County and the Channel Islands.
On Monday, several ALERT California wildfire cameras showed smoky skies as far south as Ventura County.
As crews struggle to contain the fire in hot and dry summer conditions, the Gifford Fire was expected to expand in the coming days, potentially sending more smoke spiraling south.
This story was originally published August 4, 2025 at 1:10 PM.
