Gifford Fire along Highway 166 grows to over 65,000 acres; Evacuation Orders in effect
By Caleb Nguyen, Andrew Gillies
SAN LUIS OBISPO AND SANTA BARBARA COUNTIES, Calif. – The Gifford Fire has grown to 65,062 acres. It is near Gifford Trailhead on Highway 166 near the eastern edges of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties.
As of Monday, Aug. 4, the fire is currently 3 percent contained. An air quality alert has been issued for Santa Barbara County and current air quality information for San Luis Obispo County can be found here.
Three people have been injured in connection with the fire according to the Los Padres National Forest.
Evacuation orders and warnings in Santa Barbara County have been issued for areas south of Highway 166 which forms the northern boundary on the county including:
- East of the Willow Springs trailhead and West of Cottonwood Canyon Road
- East of School House Road and West of Aliso Canyon Road
- East of Cottonwood Canyon Road and West of School House Road
- Upper Tepusquet Canyon
Those evacuations are shown in the image below with the fire boundary shown in bright red, Evacuation Orders highlighted in light red, and Evacuation Warnings highlighted in yellow.
Two temporary evacuation points have been established at Benjamin Foxen Elementary at 4949 Foxen Canyon Road in Santa Maria and the Cuyama Valley Family Resource Center at 4689 Highway 166 in New Cuyama.
For those in need of help finding shelter after being displaced by the evacuations, call the American Red Cross at 805-678-3073.
San Luis Obispo County has also issued evacuation orders and warnings that are shown in the image below.
The fire first broke out before 2:00 p.m. on Friday and resulted from a series of extinguished spot fires in the same area, according to Los Padres National Forest (LPNF) officials.
Highway 166 to State Route 33, between Santa Maria and New Cuyama, has been closed due to the fire and will remain close until Wednesday noted the the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office.
Multiple separate fires on the north side of the highway are part of the overall incident, shared LPNF officials.
More information on this fire response will be added to this article and on Your News Channel broadcasts as they becomes available.
