The Gifford fire has scorched nearly 40,000 acres in less than three days in Los Padres National Forest as firefighters struggle to quell the blaze in the Sierra Madre mountains.
Officials have reported three injuries, two of which were sustained by workers fighting the fire.
Wildland firefighters were continuing to work to stop the blaze Sunday along Highway 166 in rural Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, about 15 miles east of Santa Maria, according to the U.S. Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. But crews were faced with challenging conditions such as high temperatures, dry vegetation and rugged terrain.
As the fire expanded Sunday, crews constructed fire lines and protected structures in Schoolhouse and Cottonwood canyons, the interagency team managing the fire response said in a statement.
As of Sunday afternoon, the fire was 5% contained and continuing to burn through the tall, dry grass and chaparral that covers the steep hills and mountains. Evacuation orders and warnings were issued for agricultural lands near the unincorporated community of Garey.
Although the fire is on federally managed land, Cal Fire crews joined the response to assist with more ground personnel and firefighting aircraft.
Two contractors fighting the fire were injured and hospitalized Saturday when their utility task vehicle overturned, Los Padres National Forest officials said in a statement. Additionally, one civilian was airlifted to a hospital with burn injuries.
Criticized on the social media platform X for the fire’s explosive growth, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s media office reiterated that the fire was not on state land.
“The #GiffordFire started on Trump’s federally managed land in the Los Padres NATIONAL Forest,” read the post. “While Trump just gutted wildfire funding, @CAL_FIRE is now stepping in to clean up what federal mismanagement helped fuel.”
Newsom has criticized President Trump for cutting funding for forest management, including activities such as prescribed burns, a process that reduces the risk of explosive fires by proactively burning vegetation in a controlled environment.
The incident’s unified command was composed of a California Interagency Incident Management Team, Cal Fire, the Santa Barbara County Fire Department and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office, officials wrote in a statement.
The fire was first reported about 2 p.m. Friday near Los Padres National Forest’s Gifford trailhead, not far from the perimeter of the recently extinguished Madre fire. According to Cal Fire, the blaze had multiple starting points along Highway 166.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.