The Gifford Fires coke 30,000 acres in less than two days at the Los Padres National Forest as firefighters struggled to calm the fires in the Sierra Mountains.
Wild Firefighters continued to fight the fire on the countryside of Santa Barbara and on Highway 166 in San Luis Obispo County, about 20 miles east of Santa Maria, according to the Cal Fire. But firefighters face challenging conditions such as high temperatures, dry vegetation and rugged terrain.
As of Saturday night, the fires accounted for 5% and continued to chew on the tall hay and jungle covering steep hills and mountains. The evacuation order and warning were issued on agricultural land near Garey’s non-individual community.
Despite the fires on federally managed land, California firefighters joined the response to assist more ground personnel and firefighting aircraft.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office criticized the explosive growth of the fire on social media platform X, reiterating that the fire was not on state land.
“#GiffordFire started with Trump’s federal administration of land in the Los Padres National Forest,” the post reads. “While Trump has only spent wildfire funds, @cal_fire is now stepping in to clean up the help of mismanagement in federalism.”
Newsom criticized President Trump for cutting funds for forest management, including activities such as prescription burning, a process that reduces the risk of explosive fires by actively burning vegetation in a controlled environment.
As of Saturday night, the Inter-California Incident Management Team consisted of federal, state and county firefighters from various agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Land Administration, Indian Affairs, National Park Service, California State Park Fire Department, State Emergency Services Office and County Fire Department – was appointed to the event.
The fire was first near the Gifford Trailhead in the Los Padres National Forest around 2pm on Friday, not far from the perimeter of the recently extinguished Madre Fire. According to Cal Fire, the fire has multiple starting points along Route 166.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
